Canadian Family Physician: through a glass darkly.

Canadian Family Physician has undergone many transitions over the last 50 years, but none have been as dramatic and traumatic as those that are likely to take place during the next decade. Two months after the College of General Practice of Canada officially came into being in June 1954, its first official publication appeared in the form of a newsletter, hand addressed to each member. Across the top, in what in retrospect must have been confidence, foresight, arrogance, or a happy combination of all three, ran the legend “Vol I, No 1.” This first newsletter was concerned with matters of organization, committee str ucture, membership standards, and the formation of local chapters as the fledgling organization began to take shape. By the third issue, a bilingual format had been adopted, and in May 1956, the newsletter was announcing the College’s first scientific convention to be held in Montreal, Que. Hotel accommodation was of fered at $10.35 for a double bed, or $24 for a suite. In May 1957, the name and format changed: the newsletter became the Bulletin of the College of General Practice and, for the first time, advertising was introduced. Ostoco multivitamin drops were recommended for babies; Albamycin was the antibiotic of choice for common infections and meprobamate for treatment of anxiety. The Bulletin remained unchanged for the next 4 years until, in May 1961, it was renamed the Journal of the College of General Practice (Figure 1) and was distributed free of charge to GPs across Canada, whether or not they were members of the College (Figure 2). By now advertising had become even more prominent, with the promotion of chloramphenicol as a useful antibiotic, reserpine as first-line treatment for hyper tension, and barbiturates suggested for managing menopause symptoms. Advertising reflected the range of skills that GPs were still expected to have, with advertisements for various makes of anesthetic ether and surgical sponges alongside those for prescription medicines. In July 1967, as the College’s centennial project, the journal was renamed Canadian Family Physician (Figure 3). While the name has remained the same since then, the content has changed substantially. Editorial material was first composed almost entirely of continuing medical education articles written by specialists for the benefit of their generalist colleagues, with very little original research. In later years, the emphasis changed: family physicians were encouraged to write ar ticles Millennium Series