From Professor K. E. Kendle, MRPharmS
SIR,-For the past three decades the academic staff at the school of pharmacy in Aberdeen (dyed-in-the-wool academics to you) have taken particular pride in producing graduates who were both educated and trained to meet current and anticipated future needs of the profession.
Thus, we have had undergraduates on hospital ward rounds since the mid 1970s, hospital-based teacher practitioners on our staff since the mid 1980s, one final examination based entirely on case history analysis for over a decade, staff undertaking medication reviews in primary care since 1996 and a postgraduate diploma in clinical pharmacy which included a community route since 1990.
These are just a few of the factors that we believe have enabled us to produce graduates able to provide a service that offers a great deal more than a supply oriented system.
The appointment of Professor Clare Mackie as head of the school was widely welcomed by the academic staff precisely because her background and interests matched the prevailing ethos of the school so closely.
The success of this appointment, while owing much to her energy, enthusiasm and flow of new ideas, does also draw on the established commitment of the school to fostering excellence in practice.
It is very disappointing, therefore, that our own professional journal seemingly cannot pay due tribute to Professor Mackie's achievements without including an implied sneer at dyed-in-the-wool academics and an entirely unjustified suggestion that students hitherto have had to suffer outdated, supply-centred courses.
I know that academic staff in this school are hurt and offended by these implications and I imagine that our academic colleagues in other schools will feel much the same.
K. E. Kendle
School of Pharmacy, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen