Compassion: Our True Vocation?

Abstract

I went to collect a Kenyan friend from the Pan African Federation for Mother and Child Health (PAFMACH) conference held recently in Midrand. While waiting for him to sort out some minor details with the reception, I bumped into a family physician colleague. I was distressed to hear from her that throughout the week, the delegates (from all over Africa and other parts of the world) had emphasised the role of paediatricians, obstetricians and nurses in meeting the needs of mother and child health care. The general practitioner / family physician was either ignored or seen as irrelevant.