75 Years of Pharmacy in the U.S. Public Health Service – The Deep Well

Submitted by: CAPT James R. Minor, USPHS (Ret.)

On 18 November, my wife and I attended the 75th Anniversary celebration and recognition banquet for the Pharmacist category of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps). Having been retired since 1996, I relish every opportunity to gather with friends and colleagues, my fellow retirees, colleagues presently on active duty, and especially the young junior officers of our category.

Sitting in the very back corner of the room, I reflected on what unfolded before us that evening. I imagine that my reflections and thoughts are shared by my many fellow Corps Pharmacy officers in attendance – those I’ve known for decades, those I met for the first time that night, and those I may never have the privilege of knowing.

Gathered there that evening were many of the most influential thought leaders and practitioners within Federal and military pharmacy. The roll call of our Chief Pharmacist Officers was a true Who’s Who of contemporary pharmacy. As the names of the Chief Pharmacist Officers - past and present - were called and their contributions acknowledged, everyone in that room reflected back on their professional and personal relationships with each of these individuals, on how that relationship had affected their own career paths, and the influence these men had asserted – directly or indirectly – on all of our individual and collective professional development.

As I sat there listening to brief overviews of these individuals’ tenure as Chief Pharmacist Officer, the vision of a well came into my mind. The rich history and the individual Corps officer pharmacists who have contributed to that history over these decades, comprise the water of that well – deep with tradition, with major leadership roles in our Commissioned Officers Association and our other professional organizations, and with significant contributions to our Nation’s public health practice and policy – in times of peace, war, manmade and natural disasters.

I was most impressed with the number of junior Pharmacy Corps officers in attendance that evening, and I made a few new friends among them. In their crisp uniforms, their smiling faces and firm handshakes, I saw the future of our category. All is well, and the future is bright.

Over the span of my own 26-year active-duty career as a commissioned corps officer, I have visited that well many times – most often in solitude – to seek guidance along my own professional journey, to drink from its depth of knowledge, and to apply the knowledge gained there to my own professional and personal life.

I pray that all the commissioned corps officers in our category, especially our junior officer colleagues, will visit this well often along their respective career paths, and will quench their thirsts with the knowledge and experiences it has to offer. As you look down into that well, you will no doubt see your own reflection and the promise of the contributions that you continue to make to our Nation’s public health, and those you will make in the future. But know that there below the surface, the faces of all the Chief Pharmacist Officers, and those of the rank and file pharmacists on the front lines of the U.S. Public Health Service – past, present, and future - are looking up with hopeful pride and respect for the sacrifices that you make, and the important work that you do.

Carry on.

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