Ankara University Faculty of Pharmacy Museum

The Museum of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ankara University, is a specialized museum that documents the historical development of the pharmacy profession, including the medications used, production methods, and instruments employed. It was opened on 16 December 2013 in the foyer area of the Faculty of Pharmacy building at Ankara University. The museum serves as a functional exhibition space that not only supports student education but also enables comparison between historical and contemporary pharmacy practices.

Museum of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ankara University(Ankara University)

Founding and Purpose

The museum was officially inaugurated on 16 December 2013, the founding date of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ankara University, with a formal ceremony. Designed as an integral part of the faculty’s educational program, the museum aims to illustrate the historical evolution of the pharmacy profession, display medications and instruments used in the past, and foster awareness of the profession’s historical heritage.

Pharmacy Museum

The Pharmacy Museum features a collection of medications used during the Ottoman Empire and the first thirty years of the Turkish Republic, along with the raw materials used in their preparation. It also includes extracts prepared from plants, pharmaceutical preparations from the years 1920 to 1940, and original medication packaging acquired through donations. This collection of approximately 1000 objects includes injection preparations stored in glass tubes, physiological serums, and preserved ready-made medications that have survived to the present day in protected conditions.

Instrument Museum

The Instrument Museum displays scientific equipment previously used in the faculty’s laboratories, research activities, and educational processes, and later retired from service. Here one finds centrifuges, magnetic stirrers, shakers, UV lamps, microscopes, balances, and other laboratory instruments. Additionally, tools used in pharmaceutical analysis, typewriters, and slide projectors intended for educational purposes are part of this collection. Smaller instruments are exhibited in specialized cabinets, while larger instruments are displayed openly.

Museum Pharmacy

The Museum Pharmacy is a reconstructed representation of a pharmacy from the early 1900s and consists of two sections. The first section is the area where medications, known as majistral, were prepared according to prescriptions. Here, balances, mortars and pestles, a mini autoclave, active ingredients, and herbal extracts are displayed. Pharmaceutical formulas prescribed by physicians were prepared in this section, and once documented in prescription record books, the medications were dispensed to patients.

The second section is where patients were received and prescriptions were recorded. This section also contains prescription record books maintained by three different pharmacies between 1925 and 1970. Thus, the Museum Pharmacy provides an opportunity to document historical pharmacy practices and compare them with contemporary ones.

Educational and Cultural Function

Beyond being open to public visitation, the museum is actively integrated into the educational curriculum of faculty students. It offers students the opportunity to compare pharmacy practices from 50 to 100 years ago with those of today. Materials in the museum collection such as injection preparations in glass tubes, physiological serums, and preserved original pharmaceutical packaging are regarded as significant objects that illuminate the history of pharmacy.