The basis of general practice, its content and relation to training.

The present status is the newly defined discipline of general practice is briefly outlined. The reasons for its worldwide upsurge in the past decade and the relative failure of South Africa to keep abreast are reviewed. A brief exposition is given of the knowledge and skills required for general practice, the consultation, the clinical process and the content of what in some countries is regarded as family medicine. The difference in ethos between 'doctor-orientated' and 'patient-orientated' medicine is discussed. The latter approach is essential to general practice, in which the attidudes of both doctor and patient and their interactions are known to have an effect on the clinical process. The non-directive educative approach is discussed in relation to undergraduate and postgraduate training, and the attempts to make postgraduate general practice examinations valid and reliable, so that they evaluate the actual day-to-day activities of the doctor, are alluded to. The content of general practice is as yet not clearly identified and the problems encountered in delineating these as well as suggested approaches are presented. It is concluded that in South Africa no serious attempts have been made by legislative bodies and most medical educational institutions to recognize general practice as a new displine in spite of pioneering work achieved by the Faculty of General Practice of the College of Medicine of South Africa.