ABSTRACT
General practice in the United Kingdom (UK) has an inspiring history, with many prominent persons shaping its course. One of the bad habits of textbooks is just how well they equip their readers to fight the last war but not any future wars. Teachers teach a topic because they either consciously or unconsciously know that it is important. Medicine was a good or product to be traded in the market place. It was transactional, and doctors had to compete for customers with many others: quacks, folk healers, herbalists and many more. The colleges of physicians and surgeons were established in 1518 and 1540 respectively, and these colleges started to set specific standards for membership. The awareness of infection and its risk of contagion meant that the connections between personal and societal conditions had to be made.
