Introduction

All facets of the great profession of medicine are fascinating and that is basically the reason why I pursued a career in General Practice. It provides the opportunity to diagnose and manage diseases from A-Z (acne to zoonoses). Practising in a rural community, with the luxury of managing the local hospital, was the ideal environment for my interests and consequently I entered rural practice in partnership with my wife, Dr Jill Rosenblatt in 1969. As the only practitioners in the community of Neerim South we enjoyed considerable responsibility especially with the management of emergencies. The discipline of General Practice, however, is one of the most difficult and challenging of all the healing arts. General Practitioners are at the front line of patient care and have to manage presenting problems as they appear at any time and place.