This authoritative volume presents a the first major assessment of family medicine and its impact as a discipline in the United States since its founding in 1969. Under the senior editorship of Professor William Doherty, a nationally know leader in the field of family medicine and family social science, this exciting volume provides: An overview by G. Gayle Stephens, MD . . . . one of the founding fathers of family medicine The outsider's critique of family medicine by Edmond Pellegrino, MD . . . prominent internist and medical educator Achievements of family medicine and its potential in research reviews by key leaders Culpepper, Becker, Doherty, Baird, and Becker Is family medicine a genuine reform movement within medicine and society? Or is family medicine practiced by generalists who are out of step with the true specialization needed in today's medicine? Top authorities both inside and outside the specialty address the debate surrounding family medicine in the first truly balanced overview of this controversial branch of medicine. Family physicians discuss the challenges they face in family medicine and synthesize the existing theory and empirical knowledge on the topic. This valuable update on a growing specialization provides historical background as well as practical recommendations for the its future. The best people in the fields--family physicians and other medical specialists, as well as sociologists, anthropologists, and family social scientists--explore the major issues surrounding family medicine. How far has family medicine come in fulfilling its original mission? How has its mission changes? What are the field's principal achievements? Where has family medicine fallen short? What are the key challenges now facing the field? Among the specific issues discussed are family medicine and the predoctoral medicine curriculum, developmental assessment of family practice, polarities in the identity of family medicine, family medicine as a biopsychosocial discipline, family medicine from a consumer's perspective, and much more.