School of Pharmacy

Eugene V. White, RPh, P’50 has been called a pioneer, a maverick and a visionary. Indeed, he is all three. Thanks to his refusal to accept the status quo and willingness to take risks, he began the shift of pharmacy from a product-oriented to a patient-oriented profession, instituting practices that influenced the way pharmaceutical care is administered today. Gene White credits the VCU School of Pharmacy for giving him the chance to enter the field and preparing him well for his 46-year career. In recognition of his education and long relationship with the school, Gene and his wife, Laura, created this scholarship.

 “Pharmacy gave me a good life and a good living, and if I’ve made a difference in the profession that I love, so much the better,” said Dr. White. “But it wouldn’t have happened had it not been for Wortley Rudd, dean of the MCV School of Pharmacy in 1946. I had just been discharged from the Army Air Corps and traveled to Richmond to interview with Dean Rudd. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be accepted to matriculate, because the literature said that one year of college was required. When the Dean broached the subject, I told him I was a veteran and had had only four months of college while I was an aviation cadet. He looked me in the eye and said, ‘After hearing your remarks and knowing that you won your wings, I am convinced you will make it. At least I’m going to let you try.”

“It was the break I was wishing for and it marked the beginning of what turned out to be a long and satisfying career. So you can well understand why I endowed a scholarship to support a pharmacy student.

When Dr. White entered the field in the early 1950s, fresh out of MCV School of Pharmacy, he was dismayed to find that the typical community “drug store” was focused more merchandising than it was on medicine and that pharmacists were little more than order fillers. At that time, the Pharmacists Code of Ethics forbade any discussion about the prescription between the pharmacist and the patient, including the name of the drug. As new drugs proliferated and were mass-produced, and patients began to see more than a single physician, Dr. White observed that some patients were receiving the same drug from two doctors, except that each prescription was a different color or strength. He also noted increasing incidents of medication being dispensed to which the patient has demonstrated a previous sensitivity.

“It was at this juncture that I knew I must disobey the Code of Ethics in order to discuss the medications with the patient,” said Dr. White. “I began to record a profile of each patient, his or her idiosyncrasies, disease states, allergies, and a continuing medication history of the pharmaceutical services provided. And, I eliminated the soda fountain and all the retail displays from my pharmacy, replacing them with comfortable seating and private consulting areas to achieve a professional office environment.”

Clinical pharmacy and the patient medication profile were born. During the next few decades, more and more pharmacists began interviewing their patients and recording pertinent health and medication information and, in 1969, the Pharmacists Code of Ethics was changed to allow pharmacist-patient medication discussion. However, it wasn’t until the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 that pharmacists were mandated to counsel patients on their medications and keep detailed patient medication records.

 “Gene White is, unquestionably, one of the fathers of modern pharmacy. The practices that he initiated elevated our profession and formed the foundation of clinical pharmacy. That is quite a legacy in itself,” said Victor Yanchick, PhD, VCU School of Pharmacy dean emeritus. Gene White passed away in 2010.

This scholarship is available to a student with an expressed interest in practicing office-based clinical pharmacy in a community setting.