The Work of a Family Doctor

What could have been a monumental bore is instead a pleasant experience. Opening with a demand that the family doctor have a "marked degree of humaneness" as well as a "profound... medical knowledge," the book demonstrates that the author has both. After clearly describing the design and method of his study, McGregor presents his material in ten graphs and 151 tables. All patients seen from July 5, 1948 (the first day of the British National Health service), to January 5, 1960, are tabulated. The difficulty of cataloging 11 1/2 years' experience in a busy general practice is resolved by using the systemic as well as symptomatic approach. McGregor's use of brief, pointed examples or succinct comments gives perspective and readability to the occasionally redundant material. The author closes his research report with a description of the split of the British medical community and the resultant problems of physician and hospital