What's in a Name?

How important is it to use the correct name when referring to an organization? How easy is it for a mistake to creep in? So how did it happen in a profession such as pharmacy, when one of the important qualities amongst its practitioners is attention to detail? I have always thought that the name of the body representing pharmacy students in this country is the “South African Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation” (SAPSF).

 Recently I was browsing the Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa’s website and when I clicked on the abbreviation “SAPSF” in the Sectors section, I was confronted with the following:

“What is SAPSF?
The South African Pharmacy Students' Federation is a professional federation that represents ALL Pharmacy students studying in South Africa”.

Nor is the emblem on the website true to its image registered with the Bureau of Heraldry.

 Via a Google search I found a copy of the SAPSF Constitution on a website with the page name of   “South African Pharmaceutical Student’s Federation” (oh dear, that abused apostrophe) and this contained a copy of the constitution which confirmed the correct title of the organization as being the South African Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation and the emblem on each page is true to the registered emblem. Incidentally, despite my Norton antivirus programme being suspicious of the website, I opened it.

 The Facebook group for SAPSF styles itself as “South African Pharmacy Students … “.Yet when one Googles SAPSF there is indeed a South African Pharmaceutical Students' Federation  page with the date of the last entry being October 6, 2014. Two differently coloured emblems appear on the page.

When I was reading through my article published in the “Nibbles” section of the January/February 2016 issue of the South African Pharmaceutical Journal, I realised that I had perpetuated this serious error of nomenclature  therein.   I had copied the original report that Bob Wilson had written for “FORUM” wherein he had referred to the President of the South African Pharmacy Students’ Federation. I immediately searched for the issue of “FORUM” in which the report had originally appeared to determine what Bob had written; perhaps I had transcribed incorrectly.  But no, even as far back as then the incorrect title had crept in, and I had not noticed.

I did post a comment about the incorrect name on the currently used Facebook page of SAPSF, but the reply indicated that my comment and its implication had not been understood. The Exco of SAPSF is in the process of creating a new website, and I was given an opportunity to view it and comment. On this website they also used the incorrect title for their student body. I do hope this is rectified before it “goes live”.

There is also no consistency in the format of the titles of the various student bodies that comprise the Federation. Some style themselves as ”Association of Pharmacy Students”. Others are “Pharmacy Students Association” (where is the apostrophe?) and there is one “Pharmaceutical Students Council” (also without the apostrophe).

 As mentioned earlier, the emblem is registered with the Bureau of Heraldry as belonging to the South African Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation. This I have learnt the hard way.  When I contacted the Bureau to determine when the emblem had been changed from the original that I recall, I had incorrectly referred to the South African Pharmacy Students’ Federation. As a result the emblem could not be traced, but it was successfully located after a search was made for the South African Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation.

 Does it really matter whether one uses the word pharmacy or pharmaceutical? After all the SAPJ is the South African Pharmaceutical Journal; but then we also have the South African Pharmacy Council which used to be the South African Pharmacy Board. In the United Kingdom, The Royal Pharmaceutical Society produces The Pharmaceutical Journal, and its regulatory functions were transferred to the General Pharmaceutical Council in 2010; in addition, I am a member of the Georgia Pharmacy Association.

My registration certificate issued by the South African Pharmacy Board certifies that I am registered as a Chemist and Druggist,  and a registration certificate issued to me by the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (before its name-change to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society) certifies that I am registered as a Pharmaceutical Chemist. In order to avoid any misrepresentation, I must point out that I recently voluntarily requested to have my name removed from the register of the General Pharmaceutical Council,

Will the next cohort of personnel introduced to help pharmacists in their work environment be referred to as pharmaceutical assistants or pharmacy assistants, or pharmacy technicians, or pharmaceutical technicians? Or will it be an entirely different description to distinguish them from all the designations that have been applied over the past fifty decades or more?

Any ideas?

 I am pedantic, and I believe that when a name has been decided upon, that name must be used without fail.

 The members of SAPSF are the future leaders of pharmacy in South Africa. I hope those who have been elected to their national student body will take the lead in ensuring that the full name of that body is used correctly and consistently throughout the world of pharmacy and beyond.

The above, written by me, was published in the Nibbles column of the South African Pharmaceutical Journal in August 2016, Vol 83 No 7.