The Honest Apothecary is about the profession of pharmacy, pharmacy management & leadership, pharmacy careers, pharmacy-related interviews, and pretty much anything related to…well….pharmacy. My name is Jason Poquette. I’m a pharmacist. Welcome to my blog.
I call this site the “Honest” apothecary. Not that those other pharmacists are dishonest! We are still, due to no special efforts on my part, one of the more trusted professions in society. I am personally grateful to the many excellent pharmacy blogs being written today. But I chose the word honest because of Noah Webster’s beautiful definition of honesty in his dictionary published in 1828: “In principle, an upright disposition; moral rectitude of heart; a disposition to conform to justice and correct moral principles in all social transactions.” I therefore put that word “honest” not so much before YOUR eyes, as MINE, as a constant reminder of what I strive to be.
And I use the word “Apothecary” also. Not that I have any problem with the title “pharmacist”. Pharmacist is fine. But the word apothecary comes from the Latin “apotheca” meaning, literally, a “storehouse”. You see, we spend many years reading, studying and practicing this profession while in school. Then we graduate and discover that we only know about 1% of all the available drug knowledge there is to accumulate. So…we keep reading, studying and learning. All the while we are “storing” up (apotheca) information, some of it useful…some obscure. But lo and behold we discover to our dismay that there is hardly time in the typical workday to breathe, let alone actually communicate what we have learned. So…a blog seems like the logical place to turn, and “apothecary” seems to fit the purpose.
Last modified: August 6, 2022
