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Authors

J. Paul Newell

Publication Date

7-1996

Document Type

Front Matter

Abstract

I am delighted to be a part of these proceedings. Just to establish my biases, perhaps more than my credentials, you need to understand that I come to this task from three historical and shaping perspectives. The first is that of Family Medicine. I spent twenty-three years of my career in academic Family Medicine and continue to view that particular primary care discipline as the one best suited for providing patient access into the medical system, because of the broad base of training and education it provides for its graduates in the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to take care of people on the front line. The second is that of Public Health, my second and current career. I have come into the Public Health ranks only recently, but my understanding of the dimensions of what we mean-or should mean-by health care has been powerfully confirmed and bolstered. The third bias is a particularly personal one; I was raised in a small four corners town of barely one thousand persons, living there until going off to university in the late 1950s; it has been only in the last decade that I have recognized the many ways in which that life experience has shaped my understanding of the issues that this symposium will be addressing today.

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