The family doctor has a unique perspective through caring for patients of all ages, for all conditions and caring for all family members. Some family doctors are bound to wonder about problems in their practices, and to research further, often undertaking research studies of their own. The research seldom involves laboratories and test-tubes; it is focused on the characteristics of patients and the problems they present.

The Curious Family Doctor, by Dr William A Falk, records and honours the contribution of family doctors to the advancement of a body of knowledge. The book's emphasis is on the pioneer years in Canada from 1950 to 1975.

Canada was a long way behind in developing resources to make research feasible for family doctors when Dr. Jim Collyer became Chairman of the Research Committee of the College of Family Physicians of Canada in 1967. With the support of the College, he organizaed an assembly of members from each province who had some experience or a major interest in research. The meeting was followed by the formation of a truly national committee and a series of workshops for teaching research methods The rest is history, much of it recorded in this book.

The 1971 CFPC Research Committee meeting in Banff, British Columbia, including (from left to right) Drs. John Garson, Jim Collyer, Alan Clews, and Bill Falk (photo by Ruth Garson)

Author Bill Falk became aware of the potential for research in general practice in 1964, during his 25 years of practice in Victoria, B.C. His early interest was enhanced when he received the Nuffield Foundation Travelling Fellowship in 1965, to viist general practitioners in other parts of the Commonwealth. During the six-month tour he met many of those doing research, and was greatly impressed by the amount and quality of work that was being done.

Dr. Falk later earned the MSc degree in Health Services Planning at UBC, and then became an associate professor in the family medicine teaching program at the University of Calgary.

The Curious Family Doctor will be of special interest to medical libraries and historians, and to present-day researchers who are working on the foundation laid by those early family doctors.

Copies may be purchased for $17 US ($25 Cdn), or you may read excerpts online, by going online to www.trafford.com/robots/01-0177.html

The author, Dr Bill Falk, may be contacted via email at wafme@home.com