Abstract
In A Fortunate Man, his magnificent account of the work of a rural family doctor, published in 1967 [2], John Berger described the “individual and closely intimate recognition” which is necessary. He explains the need for the doctor to come close enough to see and to hear and so to recognise the particular suffering individual. It is this recognition that underpins the commitment to person-centered medicine. The practice of medicine depends on the ability to make a connection between the generalisations of biomedical science and the unique individual experience of illness and disease. In Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak wrote [3]:
Highlights
The acronym Wonca stands for the World Organisation of National Colleges and Academies of General Practice/ Family Medicine
This has been shortened to the World Organisation of Family Doctors we retain the rather endearing acronym
The stated aspiration for Wonca is “A family doctor for every family in the world” and, by implication, because not everyone lives in a conventional family, “A general practitioner for every person in the world”
Summary
The acronym Wonca stands for the World Organisation of National Colleges and Academies of General Practice/ Family Medicine. General practice is fundamentally person-centered and it is Ian McWhinney who has pointed out that [1, p. 433]: “[General practice] is the only discipline to define itself in terms of relationships, especially the doctor-patient relationship.
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