[Genesis of a profession: pharmacists in Quebec in the 19th century]

Before pharmacy was legally recognized as an autonomous profession and before pharmacists were sufficiently numerous and organized to represent their own interests, some "underground" developments marked the appearance of this group in the field of health care. The purpose of this article is to identify and analyze some of the events which led to the emergence in Quebec of pharmacy as a distinct medical profession and the restructuring of the medical community with advances in commercial and industrial activity in the pharmaceutical field. These developments are important to understand the particular orientation of pharmacy in Quebec and also to demonstrate the importance of pharmaceuticals in the health profession.