From the Wonca President:
Family Medicine is Alive and Well in the
2
Gulf
From the CEO’s Desk
:
Promising Developments for a
3
7th Wonca Region
From the Editor
:
Improving Health Care and People’s
4
Health – Family Doctors Helping Family
Doctors
FEATURE STORIES
5
•Flemish Council Funds Family Medicine Network in East and
South Africa
•GFD’s Three Medical Editors Keep Wonca Online Relevant
Wonca REGIONAL NEWS
8
•Wonca Americas Region Council Meets in Vancouver
•Wonca Europe Region to Convene in Florence
HEALTH AND HEALTH SYSTEM NEWS
11
•AAFP Works to Improve Primary Health Care in Albania
•New Zealand’s GP’s Ageing Faster Then Being Replenished
MEMBER AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEWS
13
•Tamar Gabunia: Wonca Global Family Doctor for December 2005
•Sugito Wonodirekso: Wonca Global Family Doctor for January 2006
•Celebrating the Life of Jack Marshall
•In Memoriam: Dr H Shigemoto
RESOURCES FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
16
• WHO Report Calls for Greater Global Focus on Chronic Diseases
•Online Educational Resources on Tobacco
WONCA CONFERENCES 2006-2011 AT A GLANCE
18
GLOBAL MEETINGS FOR THE FAMILY DOCTOR
19
VOLUME 32
NUMBER 1
FEBRUARY 2006
CONTENTS
Wonca website:
http://www.GlobalFamilyDoctor.com
Wonca President
Prof Bruce Sparks, South Africa
2 Cruden Bay Road
Greenside
Johannesburg 2193
South Africa
Tel: 27 11 646 2140
Fax: 27 11 717 2558
Email: brucespa@global.co.za
Wonca Chief Executive Officer
Dr Alfred W T Loh
Wonca Administrative Manager
Ms Yvonne Chung
World Organization of Family Doctors
College of Medicine Building
16 College Road # 01-02
Singapore 169854
Tel: 65 6224 2886
Fax: 65 6324 2029
Email: admin@wonca.com.sg
Wonca President-Elect
Prof Chris van Weel, Netherlands
Wonca Immediate Past President
Dr Michael Boland, Ireland
Honorary Treasurer
Richard Roberts, MD, USA
Wonca Regional Presidents
Dr Abra T Fransch, Africa
Warren A Heffron, MD, Americas
A/Prof Goh Lee Gan, Asia Pacific
Prof Igor Svab, Europe
Dr Shatendra K Gupta, Middle East
South Asia
Dr Adolfo Rubinstein,
Iberoamericana-CIMF
Wonca Executive Members at Large
Dr Javier Dominguez del Olmo, Mexico
Prof Michael Kidd, Australia
Richard Roberts, MD, USA
Chair, Bylaws and Regulations
Dan Ostergaard, MD, USA
Chair, Publications & Communications
Dr Geoffrey D Martin, Australia
Editor, Wonca News and Editorial Office
Marc L Rivo, MD
4566 Prairie Avenue
Miami Beach, Florida 33140, USA
Tel: 305 671 7327
Fax: 305 674 8839
Email: marcrivo@aol.com
WONCA GLOBAL SPONSORS
FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT:
FAMILY MEDICINE IS ALIVE AND WELL IN
THE GULF
“Our vision is that Primary Health Care Centers will
be GCC’s first choice for health care.”
Dr. Tawfik A. M. Khoja,
Director General, Health Ministers’ Council - Gulf
Cooperative Council
An invitation, earlier this month to the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia, to be an external examiner in the clinical
examination of the Arab Board for Medical Specialization
in the field of Family Medicine, proved to be an exciting
and enlightening experience. The Arab Board was
founded in 1978 by the Council of Arab Health Ministers,
within the Arab League with the aim of standardising
training and assessment of residents across the region.
Training is however the responsibility of the local board
or organisation responsible for accreditation and
training in each country across the Arab World from
Libya, Egypt and Sudan in Africa, through the Arabian
Peninsula, to the Middle East. The clinical examinations
were held in Jeddah, Dubai, and Bahrain. Prof Michael
Kidd, from Australia was the external examiner in
Bahrain and Dr Salmon Rawaf, from the UK, joined the
team in Dubai.
My hosts in Jeddah on the Red Sea were the local
Members of the Arab Board and the Saudi Society of
Family and Community Medicine. Their hospitality was of
course superb and I am still suffering from a massive
overdose of shell fish, cuscus and Um Ali (Mother of Ali),
a delicious local version of bread pudding!
The candidates in Jeddah were residents from across
Saudi Arabia. What amazed me was that all candidates
were examined in English, and the majority were able to
communicate with aplomb in this second language not
only when discussing clinical issues, but also when the
more complicated nuances of the language were
required to deal with ethical and philosophical issues.
The standard of knowledge and expertise of the
candidates was in the main excellent and, without
hesitation and with total confidence, I would, have
handed over the care of my own shellfish and Um Ali
induced myocardial infarct to a number of the
candidates! What also struck me, as it has in other
parts of the world, was the universality and
commonality of the content and scope of the family
WONCA
News
FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT
2
medicine curriculum with that across the world, be it in
New Zealand, South Africa, UK, Malaysia or Canada.
Wonca President, Bruce Sparks, cutting his birthday cake while in
Saudi Arabia. Looking on are Dr Sameer Alsabban, from Makkah and
Mohammed Al-Ghamdi, Director of the Joint Programme for Family and
Community Medicine, Jeddah.
Examining panel for the clinical examinations in Jeddah. Dr Sameer
Alsabban (Makkah), Prof Bruce Sparks, Dr Shawki Ameen (Bahrain),
Dr Khaldoom Al-Roomi (Bahrain)
Another exciting element of the training and
assessment was the seamless integration of community/
public health elements in the curriculum for family
physicians. Funding of training programmes in Family
Medicine is a major inhibitor in many countries around
the world. Traditional specialist disciplines often have
first grab at any health education budget. In Jeddah, the
training occurs in the Joint Family and Community
Medicine Programme. It is a junction in two senses. Not
WONCA
News
FROM THE WONCA PRESIDENT / FROM THE CEO’S DESK
3
FROM THE CEO’S DESK:
PROMISING DEVELOPMENTS FOR A 7TH WONCA
REGION
I was invited to attend the First International Primary Health Care
Conference in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi sometime in early May 2005. I
accepted the invitation as I felt it would provide Wonca with a good
opportunity to progress the agenda of creating a new seventh region for
Wonca. This move to create the new region started following my attendance
at the Lebanese Society of Family Medicine Annual Scientific Conference in
Beirut in 2003 where I met a good number of representatives from the
only is there considerable integration of the two community-based
disciplines in a single training entity, but the Programme which has been
functional for over a decade, has developed out of a true collaboration
using the combined resources of the Saudi Society of Family and Community
Medicine, The National Guard, and the National Departments of Health and
Defence. The resultant programme conducted in the grounds of the
National Guard is of a high academic and clinical standard.
Embryo of a New Wonca Arab Region
For some time, there has been discussion within and outside Wonca
about the possibility of establishing a new 7th “Arab Region” of the
organisation. The WHO in its Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) has 21
member countries ranging from Morocco in the west to Pakistan in the east
and from Syria down to Somalia in Africa. At present, the North African
countries are not part of Wonca. There are suggestions that the new Wonca
Region could incorporate as its core members 5 of the countries presently
represented in the MESAR (Middle East South Asia) Region, namely Bahrain,
Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. Such a region could then include
other countries in North Africa, the Gulf Region, and the Middle East.
Organisations in many of these countries have already indicated an interest
to join the World Organisation. We will watch developments in this part of
the World with interest.
Professor Bruce Sparks
President
World Organization of Family Doctors
P.S. In my message in the last edition of Wonca News, I asked, “Are the
World’s family doctors prepared for an avian influenza pandemic?” It is
with regret that this month we are witnessing a spread of Avian Flu as far
west as Italy and also now south into Nigeria. We hope that the occurrence
in Africa will not signal a major spread and mutation to a human form,
given the poor veterinary services in the continent. Is the Pandemic getting
closer and are we really prepared?
various national organizations of
family doctors in the Middle East.
Following that initial enthusiasm,
progress had been slow. The
conference in Abu Dhabi provided
an opportunity for some fresh
initiatives to be launched.
The Conference was hosted by
the Department of Primary
Healthcare and Preventative Services
of Abu Dhabi. It was organized in
collaboration with WHO’s Eastern
Mediterranean Regional Office, the
Council of Health Ministers of the
GCC States, the World Federation for
Medical Education, the International
Primary Care Research Group and
Wonca among others. The theme of
the Conference was “The Challenges
in Primary Care” and was held from
21
st
– 23
rd
January 2006 at the
Rotana Beach Hotel and Conference
Centre.
The morning plenary sessions
included among others :
1.Models of Primary Health Care in
countries of the Middle-east and
elsewhere.
2.The Changing Concepts of
Primary Health Care.
3.Challenges of Family Practice in
the Arab World.
4.Mental Health.
5.Postgraduate Programmes in
Family Medicine
The afternoon concurrent
sessions covered topics such as:
1.School Health
2.Dental Health
3.Maternal and Child Health
4.Postgraduate training
programmes
5.Accreditation in Primary Health
Care
6.Family Medicine Research
The quality of the papers
presented in all the sessions were
of a high standard with very active
audience participation during the
afternoon concurrent sessions.
FROM THE EDITOR:
IMPROVING HEALTH CARE AND
PEOPLE’S HEALTH: FAMILY DOCTORS
HELPING FAMILY DOCTORS
Founded with a dozen member organizations in
1972, today Wonca and its 105 member organizations in
88 countries and their family doctors cover an estimated
85% of the world’s population. A multicolored tapestry
of articles in this February issue of Wonca News record
how family doctors are helping their fellow family
doctors improve health care and people’s health around
the globe.
In his President’s Column, Bruce Sparks reports on
the invitation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the
resultant work of several family doctors to assist the
Arab Board of Medical Specialization in their clinical
examination in Family Medicine. Wonca Executive
member Michael Kidd (Australia), Salmon Wawaf (United
Kingdom) and Bruce traveled to Bahrain, Dubai and
Jeddah, respectively, to serve as clinical examiners in
their family medicine examinations.
This issue features several other examples of how
family doctors are helping family doctors around the
globe. The Flemish Inter-university Council recently
approved a three year, 310,000 EU grant to support
Ghent University’s Department of Family Medicine and
Primary Health Care together with the family medicine
departments of the Universities of Louvain, Antwerp and
Brussels to foster newly developing programs of family
medicine in East Africa, strengthen the already
functioning network of family medicine departments in
South Africa, and improve people’s health in the region.
Wonca Americas Region President, Warren Heffron,
reports on their Regional meeting in Vancouver where
family medicine development in North America and the
Caribbean were discussed. This issue reports on the
American Academy of Family Physicians’ new Center for
International Health Initiatives project to strengthen
family medicine in Albania.
This issue honors a number of family doctors who
have made a difference. Tamar Gabunia has been
actively involved in the development of Health Care
Reform in the Republic of Georgia. Sugito Wonodirekso
is a Wonca Council member representing the Association
of Indonesian Family Physicians. Both were nominated
selected as Global Family Doctors of the Month. Wonca
News celebrates the life and global contributions of two
WONCA
News
FROM THE CEO’S DESK / FROM THE EDITOR
Credit should be given to the Host Organising
Committee for the high scientific standard of the
presentations.
The presence of various representatives from the
different national organizations in the Middle-east
provided the opportunity for two significant side
meetings to take place.
Firstly, the Wonca Special Interest Group (SIG) in
Psychiatry headed by Dr Gabriel Ivbijaro with family
doctors from the region and I held a special meeting
with Dr Michelle Funk, Mental Health Policy and Service
Development of the Department of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse, WHO, to advance the WHO-Wonca
collaboration for a proposed paper on “
Recommendations On Integration of Mental Health Into
Primary Care”. The meeting ended with some very
constructive suggestions on how best to approach the
issue and to make the recommendations practical and
user-friendly to busy family doctors.
Secondly, with the kind help of Dr Abyad, Chair of
the Scientific Committee of the Conference, I met with
all the representatives of family doctor organizations
present at the Conference. The main intention of this
meeting was to further explore the formation of a
Middle East Region of Wonca. Representatives from
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain,
Lebanon, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sudan were
present. All of these representatives were highly in
favour of forming the new region. Currently, six member
organizations from the Middle-East are members of
Wonca: Bahrain, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and
UAE. It was agreed at the meeting that the new Wonca
Region will be formed when there are eight member
organizations from the Middle East Region to form the
Regional Council.
When this new Seventh Wonca Region is ready to be
formed, it is proposed that the existing Middle East
South Asia (MESA) Region become two separate regions
- The Wonca South Asia Region and The Wonca Middle
East Region.
Dr Alfred Loh
Chief Executive Officer
World Organization of Family Doctors
4
WONCA
News
FROM THE EDITOR / FEATURE STORIES
5
FEATURE STORIES
FLEMISH COUNCIL FUNDS COLLABORATIVE FAMILY
MEDICINE NETWORK IN EAST AND SOUTH AFRICA
The Flemish Inter-university Council recently approved a three year,
310,000 EU grant to foster newly developing programs of family medicine in
East Africa, strengthen the already functioning network of family medicine
departments in South Africa, and promote the realization of health for all
through South-South cooperation. This represents the culmination of
synergistic efforts among a variety of collaborators under the leadership of
Ghent University’s Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care
together with the family medicine departments of the Universities of
Louvain, Antwerp and Brussels (the Flemish Consortium ICHO).
Wonca’s designation of East Africa as a high priority for its global
mission provided impetus for the pursuit of supportive grant funding. With
this in mind, a workshop was held in January, 2005 in Pretoria, South Africa
to explore the feasibility of a proposal to the Flemish Inter-university Council
through Ghent University and the Flemish Consortium. Administrative and
technical support was provided by Global Health for Education, Training and
Service (GHETS) with encouragement from the Network: TUFH. Educators
and practitioners from eight countries in East and Southern Africa attended
this workshop. Wonca president, Bruce Sparks, and Wonca Africa Regional
President, Abra Fransch, were active participants. As background for their
deliberations, attendees first reviewed the success of South Africa’s Family
Medicine Educational Consortium (FaMEC) in developing postgraduate
training for family physicians in primary health care. This consortium was
initiated in 1997 and, since April 2003, has received significant support from
Belgium’s Ghent University and the Flemish Inter-university Council’s Own
Initiatives Project.
Eight South African departments of family medicine founded FaMEC as an
interactive network to exchange information, teaching modules and a variety
of educational resources. This unified approach has also strengthened their
ability to advocate for family medicine at the national level. FaMEC has
developed a national training program in family medicine through the
establishment of training complexes in remote and underserved areas, a
core curriculum in family medicine and shared didactic and content
materials. Training is now organized within the context of primary health
care in district health systems throughout the country. The South African
experience provides an exemplary template for combining resources and
expertise to create sustainable, high quality approaches to the education of
generalist physicians at the undergraduate, postgraduate and continuous
professional development levels.
Attendees at the Pretoria conference felt that these experiences would
be especially relevant for neighboring African countries and that those in
East Africa would likely benefit from a comparably organized regional
network. The January workshop in Pretoria enabled representatives from
Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe to communicate lessons
learned and to identify challenges they had encountered in establishing
family medicine training programs. Participants agreed on the need for
Wonca leaders, Jack Marshall and
Hirosada Shigemoto.
Three family doctors help Global
Family Doctor - Wonca Online -
serve as a relevant and timely
resource helping family doctors
around the globe. Wes Fabb has
been Medical Editor since the
inception of Global Family Doctor in
2001. Stephen Wilkinson joined him
in 2004 and Jim Vause in 2005. This
issue reports that they scan the
contents of over 170 family
medicine, general and specialist
online journals and medical news
services for articles relevant to
family doctors.
Please continue to send me
stories of how Wonca’s member
organizations, Working Parties, Task
Forces and Special Interest Groups,
family medicine/general practice
departments and individual family
doctors are helping family doctors
improve health care and people’s
health around the world.
Marc L. Rivo, M.D, M.P.H.
Editor, Wonca News
marcrivo@aol.com
4566 Prairie Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33140 USA
1-305-674-8839 (fax)
WONCA
News
FEATURE STORIES
community-based training in primary health care in sub-
Saharan Africa and for mutually beneficial exchanges
between South Africans and East Africans.
The momentum from the shared commitment
emerging from Pretoria led to a follow-up meeting in
Kampala, Uganda in August 2005, at which time 11
representatives from family medicine organizations in
Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, the DRC and South
Africa met to develop the framework for a proposal to
the Flemish Inter-university Council consistent with the
grant’s requirements. Through a collaborative process of
discussion and debate the group identified challenges,
objectives to be achieved, strategies to be pursued and
a work plan. Following the 3-day conference,
participants continued to contribute to the final grant
proposal which was coordinated through the offices of
GHETS and the University of Ghent with oversight from
Professor De Maeseneer.
A happy group of hard-working colleagues representing 8 countries in
East and Southern Africa
The Rugazi Health Center
Attendees at the Kampala meeting
Small group working party at Makerere
Participants reflecting on a presentation at the Pretoria workshop
When fully implemented, this project will support the
creation of a South-South network of training programs
that will contribute to family medicine development in
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and the DRC with provision for
future outreach to neighboring countries such as
Rwanda and Zimbabwe. A forum will be created for this
process that will be led by African institutions to:
•Define the discipline and specialty of family medicine
within the African context in a manner consistent
with the specific needs, resources, and cultural
heritage of Africa;
6
WONCA
News
FEATURE STORIES
7
•Based on this definition, enhance
the quality of program content,
training and educational
methods including community-
based education programs within
training complexes;
•Promote collaborative research ;
and
•Foster high quality and locally
relevant continuing professional
development.
This grant will support a network
that integrates primary health care
training within and between African
countries similar to the role of
FaMEC in South Africa. Departments
of Family Medicine at the Aga Khan
Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Moi
University in Kenya, Mbarara and
Makerere Universities in Uganda,
Centre Universitaire de Goma in the
DRC, and the fledgling family
medicine organizations in these
countries will collaborate to form
this network. Training will focus on
the best way to educate family
physicians to contribute optimally to
interdisciplinary primary health care
services oriented towards the needs
of individuals, their families and the
communities in which they live. This
will require capacity building,
community participation, sharing of
educational approaches, and
relevant research.
These efforts to develop a
consortium of strengthened family
medicine departments with a
flexible core curriculum and an
established means of
communication and sharing are
likely to enable significant
contributions to more equitable and
locally relevant primary health care
systems. - thus affirming respect for
the integral role of the generalist/
family physician within the primary
health care team. In addition to
benefiting those in sub-Saharan
Africa, this collaborative model
provides an exemplary blueprint for
achieving WHO’s elusive goal of a
level of health for all citizens of the
world that will permit them to lead
socially and economically productive
lives. Invigorated by the cumulative
input from so many committed
individuals, this project represents a
tangible step towards achieving
“Health for All” and relieving the
immense burden of disease
throughout the world, especially in
low-income countries.
Jan De Maeseneer, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Family Medicine and
Primary Health Care
Ghent University and I.C.H.O.
Jannie Hugo, MB ChB, M Fam Med
Department of Family Medicine
University of Pretoria
Vincent R. Hunt, M.D.
Representing the Wonca East Africa
Initiative
GHETS, The Network: TUFH
Rachel True, MPH
Executive Director, GHETS
Also representing The Network:
TUFH
GFD’s Three Medical
Editors Keep Wonca
Online Relevant
Wes Fabb has been Medical
Editor since the inception of Global
Family Doctor in 2001. Stephen
Wilkinson joined him in 2004 and
Jim Vause in 2005. Between them
they scan the contents pages of
over 170 family medicine, general
and specialist online journals and
medical news services for articles
relevant to family doctors. Over
4,000 article titles are scanned each
month. Interesting articles
describing clinical, epidemiological
and health services research are
summarized into items in Journal
Watch, and reviews of topics
relevant to family doctors are
featured in Clinical Reviews.
Summaries are posted within days
of publication. The purpose of this
service is to enable busy clinicians
to keep right up-to-date with
minimal time and effort. The
following is a brief introduction of
each GFD Medical Editor.
Professor Stephen Wilkinson
Stephen is a GP in Melbourne
and a Medical Educator with the
Joint University Centre for Education
and Training for General Practice
(JUCETGP) and regional coordinator
for two regions of metropolitan
Melbourne for the Victorian
Metropolitan Alliance (VMA), an
Australian GP Training Provider.
He has worked as a rural general
practitioner in southern NSW and as
a general practitioner in Hobart.
He has been involved in
undergraduate medical teaching and
assessment at the University of
Tasmania, the University of
Melbourne and Monash University.
He has many years of experience
in GP training including workshops,
practice visits and remediation of
registrars. He has also been
involved in programs to up-skill
doctors preparing for Fellowship of
the RACGP examination.
Stephen is an FRACGP, AMC
(Australian Medical Council) and
RWAV (Rural Workforce Agency of
Victoria) examiner.
He has contributed cases to the
RACGP site, ‘gplearning’
(www.gplearning.com.au), an
interactive online CPD education
service.
WONCA
News
FEATURE STORIES / REGIONAL NEWS
8
WONCA REGIONAL NEWS
WONCA AMERICAS
REGION COUNCIL MEETS
IN VANCOUVER
On December 8, 2005, the
Wonca Americas Region Council met
in Vancouver, BC in conjunction with
the College of Family Physicians of
Canada’s Annual Family Medicine
Forum. Attendees included Doctors
Warren Heffron (President, Americas
Region), Alain Pavilanus (President,
College of Family Physicians of
Canada), Cal Gutkin (CEO, CFPC),
Francine Lemire and John Maxted
(Staff, CFPC), Dr Alverston Bailey
(Caribbean College of Family
Physicians), Larry Fields (President,
American Academy of Family
Physicians), Perry Dickinson
(President, North American Primary
Care Research Group), William
Mygdal (President, Society of
Teachers of Family Medicine) and Mr
Roger Sherwood (CEO, STFM). The
Wonca World Executive was
represented by Doctors Alfred Loh
(CEO), Chris Van Weel (President
Elect), Richard Roberts (Treasurer),
and Dan Ostergaard (Chair, Bylaws
Committee). Attendees also
included Doctors Cheryl Levitt
(CoChair - Wonca Working Party
Women and Family Medicine), and
Edwina Yen (Pan American Health
Organization).
The Council was pleased that our
region has had two co-hosted
meetings with member organization
He is a single full-time father of
three teenage girls and is working
on other interests.
Professor Jim Vause
Having been a general
practitioner for some twenty-seven
years, Jim has always believed in
the critical importance of research in
providing the guidance for clinical
care in general practice. A personal
favourite is the often quoted
“evidence trumps opinion”
statement which provides a lead in
to the world of evidence based
medicine as it applies to general
practice, and he feels privileged to
be able to work for Wonca with Wes
and Stephen in scanning the
literature for article of relevance to
the world of primary medical care.
Jim is a kiwi, being New Zealand
born and bred with a family tree
that stretches back to the very days
when the nation was born in the
early 1200’s with settlement from
Polynesia. He began his medical
work in rural general practice in the
southern south island of NZ, a place
his ancestors settled many many
moons ago. As a bright eyed young
doctor the excitement of rural
practice was very attracting,
however the arrival of two sons led
to his family’s settlement in the Top
of the South Island at Blenheim,
from where Jim became
progressively more involved in the
work of the RNZCGP culminating in
becoming President in 2003. It was
through the College that Jim became
involved in WONCA and the GFD
work which has aligned well with
his personal interest in EBM and
application to practice.
While no longer RNZCGP
President, Jim serves on various
national health committees for
workforce, screening and quality in
addition to a governance role for his
province’s Primary Care
Organisation. Jim still manages to
work about 5/10ths in his 4 doctor
practice which his wife manages.
Ruth is also a board member for
their local District Health Board.
Occasionally other interests such as
skiing, motorsport and windsurfing
obstructs his medical work.
Professor Wes Fabb
Professor Wes Fabb was born in
1930, graduated from the University
of Melbourne in 1955, and after two
years of residency and 14 years in
family practice in rural Victoria,
became the first Chief Examiner of
the Royal Australian College of
General Practitioners, Editor of
Australian Family Physician and
Director of the Check Program of
self assessment.
From 1973 he was Director of
Education of the College’s vocational
training programme, the Family
Medicine Programme, until 1993
when he was appointed Professor of
Family Medicine at the Chinese
University of Hong Kong.
In 1997 he returned to
Melbourne to give full-time attention
to Wonca as CEO, a position he held
for 20 years, from which he retired
in 2001. He has been an honorary
staff member of the Department of
General Practice at Monash
University for almost 30 years. He is
an honorary member of several
overseas colleges/academies. He has
over 100 publications to his credit
and has been a speaker at
numerous international
