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Dose of History – Sister Pharmacists

Although Catholic Sister nurses were operating in North America since the eighteenth century, waves of immigration from regions with significant Catholic populations in the nineteenth century would dramatically increase their numbers. There was a perpetual demand for nurses throughout this period, and Sisters played a major role in alleviating this shortage. During the cholera outbreaks […]

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Dose of History – A Brief History of Drug Advertising and Regulation

Prior to 1906, the medicine market looked very different than it does today. Prescriptions were not necessary and patients were generally able to self-medicate without consulting a doctor or pharmacist. The actual contents of medicines were not always known to the buyer as the manufacturers were not obligated to make their proprietary formulas public. As […]

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Dose of History – Detailing and the Origins of DTCA

From the 1930s to the 1980s, ads for drugs were aimed almost exclusively at pharmacists and physicians. Typically, advertising was conducted in one of two ways: ads were placed in magazines directed at pharmacists or they were sold in-person by pharmaceutical marketing representatives, commonly known as detailers or detailmen. Detailers were (and still are) a […]

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Dose of History – Sulfanilamide and the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

In the fall of 1937, over 100 people died from consuming an antibiotic called “elixir of sulfanilamide”. This prompted a protracted scandal which would implicate drug manufacturers, pharmacists, and the federal government, eventually resulting in a fundamental shift in how drugs were regulated in the United States.  Although it was discovered in 1908, sulfanilamide did […]

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AIHP Events

AIHP Calendar of Events

Upcoming events hosted by AIHP

December 17, 2025, 11:00 am (Central): Pharmacy History Working Group: Beyond medical pluralism: Interactions between physician-pharmacists and other craftspeople in the Graeco-Roman world with Laurence Totelin, Cardiff University.
January, 21, 2026, 11:00 am (Central): Pharmacy History Working Group: Spring Semester Welcome Back Event: A critical reading of Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls, hosted by Kelly O'Donnell, Towson Unviersity.
February 18, 2026, 11:00 am (Central): Pharmacy History Working Group: Audrey Ke Zhao, UC Santa Cruz & CHSTM Research Fellow
March 18, 2026, 11:00 am (Central): Pharmacy History Working Group: Ryan A. Kashanipour, University of Arizona


 

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AIHP News

Calendar of Events

Upcoming events of interest to pharmacists and historians of pharmacy, pharmaceuticals, medicines, science, and related fields.

December 7-11, 2025: ASHP Midyear, Las Vegas, NV.
January 14, 2026: JCPP January 2026, Alexandria, VA.
March 27-30, 2026: APhA 2026, Los Angeles, CA.
April 18-21, 2026: NACDS Annual Meeting, Palm Beach, FL.
June 3-7, 2026: AAHM 2026, Buffalo, NY.
June 13-17, 2026: ASHP Pharmacy Futures, Charlotte, NC.
June 25, 2026: JCPP June 2026, Alexandria, VA.
July 18-21, 2026: AACP Pharmacy Education, Grapevine, TX.
September 17, 2026: JCPP September 2026, Alexandria, VA.
October 3-6, 2026: 2026 NCPA Annual Convention, Kansas City.




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