Pharmacy in Senegal: Gender, Healing, and Entrepreneurship

Pharmacy in Senegal explores the rise and expansion of pharmacies in Senegal in the 20th century. In Senegal, as in many African nations, the pharmacy is often the center of biomedical care, where pharmacists provide examinations and diagnoses and prescribe medicines. Donna A. Patterson notes that many pharmacists are women, which adds an important dimension to this story about medical training and the medical profession. In a health care landscape that includes traditional healers, herbalists, and Muslim healers, women pharmacists have become a mainstay of the local standard of care. Patterson provides a greater understanding of the role pharmacists play in bringing health care to the people they serve.