Blue Mountain Apothecary grew out of a
vision of a pharmacy that would bridge the gap between conventional and
traditional medicinal modalities – where ancient practices and modern technology
would unite so that patients would have access to the best medicine available.
Blue Mountain began as a small tincture and tonic company, sharing space
within an existing pharmacy. In early 2002, Blue
Mountain Apothecary opened as an independent pharmacy, specializing
in prescription and natural product compounded preparations.
Lynn Shumake P.D., owner and pharmacist at Blue Mountain, has
over 30 years of experience in compounding and has studied the medicinal use of
herbs for over 10 years. Dr. Shumake's education and background includes a
Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from St. Louis College of Pharmacy, a
residency in hospital pharmacy from Boston’s New England Medical Center, and a
Master’s of Psychology degree in Applied Behavior Sciences from John’s Hopkins
University.
Remaining true to his original goal, Dr. Shumake continues to make preparations
from scratch, maintaining the rich history of traditional medicine making.
He utilizes the latest technologies from the pharmaceutical realm such as
sterile product preparations, transdermal creams and slow-release
encapsulations. He is most excited when these two worlds come together; he
specializes in finding innovative ways of incorporating old recipes into modern
preparations.
“As a custodian of traditional medicine making, I want
to preserve the ancient arts of preparing plant medicines, and at the same time
provide products that are convenient, serviceable, affordable, and accessible
within our ‘grab and go’ culture.”
Dr. Shumake is devoted to ensuring that the traditions and innovations his
pharmacy embodies are passed on and preserved for the future. He serves as an
adjunct instructor and provides rotations for herbal students in the Botanical
Healing masters program at the Tai Sophia Institute. He also serves as a
preceptor for students from the School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland.
Dr. Shumake welcomes your questions and collaborations and is happy to work with
individual patients or practitioners from any healing modality.
