Figures & data
Figure 1. Richard (‘Dick’) Scott (1914–1983). In 1963, he became the first professor in General Practice/Family Medicine in the world at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Figure 2. Jan van Es (1921–2008). In 1966, he accepted a post of extraordinary professor in General Practice at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. He was the second professor in General Practice/Family Medicine in the world.
Figure 3. Ian McWhinney (1926–2012). He was ‘headhunted’ from England to Western University in London Ontario, Canada to become their first professor in General Practice/Family Medicine. He entered the chair in May 1968 as the third professor in the discipline in the world.
Figure 4. Christian Fredrik Borchgrevink (1924–). He accepted to be acting professor and head of the new Institute of general practice at the University of Oslo founded in November 1968. From 1969 to 1994 he was professor in General Practice/Family Medicine. He became professor number four in the discipline.
Alternative portrait of Borchgrevink (dated around 1968).
Figure 5. The first general practice professors in Denmark and Sweden: Left: Paul Backer (1927–1995), professor at the University of Copenhagen in 1974. Right: Bengt Scherstén (1929–2009), professor at Lund University (Dalby) in January 1981.
Figure 6. The first general practice professors in Finland and Iceland. Pertti Vilhelm Kekki (1940–) became acting professor in 1981 and professor in 1984 at the University of Helsinki. Johann Agust Sigurdsson (1948–) professor at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik since 1991.
Figure 7. The Alma-Ata declaration (1978) represented an important step forward for recognizing the importance of primary care as the foundation for a well-functioning health care system in all countries in the world.
