One of the few real and lasting benefits of international medical meetings is the opportunity to meet, talk, gossip and get to know colleagues from other countries. So it was that we met, talked and planned at WONCA (World Organization of National Colleges and Academies and Academic Associa tions of General Practitioners/Family Physicians) meetings at Montreux and New Orleans. We realized that although we worked in different places and in different practices 'primary health care' was essentially the same the world over. Our roles, our problems, our clinical content, our challenges and objectives were similar whether we work in Europe, North America, Australasia, South Africa or developing countries. With such similarities we asked ourselves - 'why not share our common experiences for mutual benefits?' The question developed into an idea and the idea into this book. We started by selecting what we considered were important topics and then we invited friends and colleagues to join us in putting our experiences and beliefs from years of practice to readers from all over the world to demonstrate our common concerns and to learn from one another."

The idea of producing this book of case histories from general family prac tice was only a twinkle in the editors' eyes until October 1980, when in a room in the Marriott Hotel in New Orleans, the editors met with John Fry, Joseph Levenstein and Bill Jackson to discuss new book projects. The idea was put to the group, which endorsed it enthusiastically. Encouraged by this and by John Fry's advice, the conception of The Nature of General Family Practice took place. It was agreed that to illustrate the universal nature of general family prac tice it would be useful to collect case histories from all around the world, that for preference they should be brief, and that they should be ac companied by major questions and sub-questions, but no answers. The name 'Vignettes' was applied to these cases and their questions. Subsequently, well over a hundred family physicians were asked by letter to provide ten vignettes. Sixty doctors from ten countries accepted the invitation and forwarded their contributions during the second half of 1981. Almost all of those who, for a variety of reasons were unable to contribute, said they liked the idea and looked forward to using the final product. Altogether, over 600 vignettes were received, and 583 selected for final inclusion."