“Strong Medicine for America” elicits strong opinions: Let’s embrace our “old GP” legacy
Your letters in response to our editorial* about the “Strong Medicine for America” effort by the AAFP brought to light the tie that binds all of us, irrespective of our varying personal perspectives—dedication to providing the best care available
Jeff Susman, MD, Editor-in-Chief
J Fam Pract. 2008;57:148
I harken back to when I was applying to medical school. I was working at a Defense Department Supply Center in Richmond, Virginia. Although I was in the military, I worked almost entirely with civilians, who were pleased about my decision to become a doctor. They were particularly happy that I was going to be a family doctor, like the “old GP” they grew up with,” who seemed able to fix anything. We shouldn’t turn our backs on that legacy—we should embrace it. The less Madison Avenue slickness, the better. We function best when we are identified with Main Street, not Wall Street.
Wayne S. Strouse, MD Pen Yan, NY
When the new residents start the next academic year, it will be 60 years since the unforgettable photo essay, “Country Doctor,” was published in Life magazine, Sept. 20, 1948. It still evokes the essence of the hardworking “GP” who was called on to care for patients from birth to their last breath. The photographer, W. Eugene Smith, spent weeks with Dr. Ernest Ceriani, who cared for patients in and far beyond the small town of Kremmling, Colo. “Country Doctor” is an enduring portrait of the family physician. This issue presents some of the iconic images from “Country Doctor,” in tribute to family medicine’s legacy.
Linda K. Hengstler, Editorial Director
Dr. Ernest Ceriani, in the hospital emergency room, has just stitched up the head of a 2-year-old girl after she was kicked by a horse
In the kitchen, the doctor telephones a priest, with the information that the patient may not survive the night
Dr. Ceriani, summoned to a rooming house at midnight, wraps a blanket around a critically ill elderly man, as a policeman prepares to take the patient to the hospital
A father holds his infant son as he waits in the doctor’s office for the baby’s check-up
A day at the local rodeo with his wife and young sons would soon be interrupted when a cowboy is injured in a fall from a bronco
