The History of Family Practice

Abstract

Where does one begin to narrate the story? Should it be in prehistoric times, the Middle Ages, or do we begin in the twentieth century? Was it in the period of Aesculapius; Buddha, 506 B.C.; Hippocrates, 460 B.C.; Aristotle, 384 B.C.; Jesus Christ, who was certainly a family physician; Galen, in the first century A.D.; Harvey, in the 1500s; Darwin, in the 1800s; Osler, who lived from 1849 to 1919; or do we begin with the modern movement toward family practice? It probably goes without saying that each period in our history has had some kind of a family doctor. Whether dealing with gods, saints, spirits, philosophers, religious figures, medicine men, scientists, or a combination of several, family health has always been administered in some way.