In the latter part of the 1950s the pharmacy course comprised an apprenticeship lasting two years (it is now called an internship and is of one year duration), and three years of full time study at a pharmacy school. There were four of these, one in Cape Town, one in Johannesburg, one in Port Elizabeth and one in Durban. Potchefstroom University and Rhodes University each introduced a pharmacy course during that decade. When an apprentice found a pharmacist willing to take on an apprentice, a contract had to be signed by the apprentice and the Master. The blank contract document was provided by the South African Pharmacy Board. The Board also provided a book with blank pages, this was the "BOOK OF PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS MADE AND PRESCRIPTIONS DISPENSED BY AN APPRENTICE". The front page of one such book has been reproduced at the top of this page. This particular one was issued to me when I registered as an apprentice in Club Pharmacy, Pretoria. My "master" was Lionel Randal. A few months later he left Club Pharmacy, and Basil Friedman became my "master".
The apprentice was expected to record 100 specified prescriptions dispensed in full and strictly in accordance with a printed index in the book. The apprentice also had to record 400 general prescriptions in tabulated form under the headings: Date, Prescription Book Number, Type of Prescription, Signature of Master. The Master was expected to set those prescriptions if they were not done in the ordinary course of business.
The master was expected to sign and date the book after each prescription was dispensed. Under the apprenticeship contract the 400 general prescriptions were to be compounded and dispensed. The inclusion of prescriptions for ready-made tablets and ethicals was to be avoided.
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