One hundred years of the history of pharmacy studies in Turkey

As an inheritor of the rich medico-pharmaceutical heritage in Asia Minor, Turkey constituted a critical junction of exchange and dissemination of pharmacy knowledge between East and West throughout history. This greatly contributed to the rapid development of pharmacy as an established profession. The 20th century saw scholarly examination of the field's history: the first book on the history of pharmacy appeared in Turkish (1911); a history of pharmacy course was offered for the first time in the pharmacy curriculum (1945); the first history of pharmacy museum was founded (1960); and national conferences on the history of pharmacy were launched (1990). In addition to providing information on the milestones of the history of pharmacy studies in Turkey in the last hundred years, this study aims to statistically evaluate the change in the number of history of pharmacy-related publications per decade as well as discuss the current situation of history of pharmacy education at Turkish universities. The history of pharmacy has become a stronger and more independent academic discipline in Turkey, particularly in the last two decades. As of 2014, history of pharmacy undergraduate courses are taught at all faculties of pharmacy in Turkey, except the Yuzuncu Yil University (Van), mainly between first and fourth semesters.