One. of my earliest recollections from medical school days was the mysterious phrase that recapitulates phylogeny. When this phrase was explained, it was clear that development of the individual organism followed many of the same stages as the evolutionary history of that group. It suggested to me that the development seen in one organism might provide a model by which one could anticipate developmental landmarks in a related organism. I then wondered if the ontogeny of emergency medicine would recapitulate or follow some of the same stages of development as other medical specialties which had deVeloped earlier. The thesis is simple. The conception and early development of a specialty, like that of the ovum, is marked ,by monumental growth in terms of both absolute and relative change. That the birth process is painful can be personally attested to by many of the pioneers in emergency medicine. As with the proud parents of a newly born, there is parental hope and parental pride. Early in the development there is somewhat undifferentiated growth. Then, from these early beginnings, there may start to be some degree of specialization. In this case not organs, but the Alexandria plan, the Pontiac plan, and the various genetic origins that seem to favor survival. It would appear, for instance, that rotating specialists from any background in an emergency department was a genetic aberration that was doomed just as the woolly mastodon and sabre-toothed tiger were doomed. We often are tempted to say that any birth and development may be attended with abnormalities, birth defects, new strains, and genetic transformations. And again, if we take a strict analogy from nature, then most genetic changes will not favor survival. No matter whether you-say emergency medicine is one or many decades old, it still has its roots in older, more classical specialties, just as we, the human race, had our roots in the division of the treeand ground-dwelling apes a half o r one million years ago. 1 Our relationship to these early forms of our nearest animal relatives was argued mightily in previous years, the arguers feeling they had been placed on this earth for very special reasons. This attitude came from an extreme and central position of self in terms of image. This is not dissimilar from all specialties, in that once established they tend to have this central view of themselves, particularly in terms of self image and self importance.