PELLEGRINO,EDMUND,D. PHILOSOPHY OF FAMILY-PRACTICE

Family medicine has grown as a specialty from its early days of genera l practice. It was established as a Board Certified specialty in 1969. This growth and maturation can be traced in the philosophy of family medicine as articulated by Edmund D. Pellegrino, M.D. Long before it w as popular to do so, Pellegrino supported the development of family me dicine. In this essay I examine the development of Pellegrino's philos ophical thought about family practice, and contrast it to other thinke rs like Ian McWhinney, Kerr White, Waiter Spitzer, Donald Ransom, and Hebert Vandervoort. The arguments focus on whether the goals of family medicine and family practice (possibly two distinct entities) can be articulated, especially considering the definitional problems of ''fam ily'' and ''community.'' I conclude by echoing Pellegrino's hope that family medicine can contribute a fresh alternative to isolated, indivi dualistic and technological thinking in medicine.