Medicine and public health - Whose agenda?

My grandfather was a general practitioner in a rural midwestern town during the first half of this century. His office consisted of a single examining room in the family home, a tiny waiting area, and little envelopes in whic h he dispensed medications. Patient hours were in the evening, no appointme nt necessary. Mostly, folks chatted in the living room with my grandmother while waiting to see "Grandpa Doc." My grandfather's nights often included trips to neighbors' kitchens to deliver babies. Days were time to serve as the county health officer, student health director for the local college, a nd organizer of the town's free clinic for indigent patients, based in the Presbyterian church.