CHAPTER AFFAIRS By: Gregory K. Griggs, MPA, CAE NCAFP Executive Vice President & CEO
Setting Sun or Rising Sun
During our country’s Continental Convention, George Washington presided in a chair that later became immortalized by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin’s comments at the end of the Constitutional Convention: “I have often looked at that picture behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun." More than 230 years after that Constitutional Convention in 1787, we can safely say Benjamin Franklin was correct – our country was like a rising sun. Since that time, we have faced adversity, but our country and our democracy still stand. And no, I am not moving into a political column. But I do think that figure on the chair of a rising or setting sun can parallel the state of Family Medicine and primary care in the United States today. Is this the rising or the setting of the Family Medicine sun? Now, most people who know me will say I am an optimist, but I truly believe the sun is still rising. But let’s take a quick look back at the history of Family Medicine. To begin with, all physicians were really family physicians. They had to take care of everything and everybody. At some point in time, some began to specialize
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into specific organ systems or body parts. But what would be coined the General Practitioner/General Physician was still the frontline medical professional for most individuals in our country. To emphasize the role of the generalist physician, the American Academy of General Practice was formed in 1948, as was the NC Chapter. Moving forward, as specialties began to be more formally recognized, the first Family Medicine residency programs began in 1968, with the American Board of Family Medicine being formed in 1969. In October of 1971, the American Academy of General Practice transitioned to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
The North Carolina Family Physician
