TY - JOUR T1 - From a non-patient's perspective JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 843 LP - 843 VL - 57 IS - 543 AU - Peter Tom Y1 - 2007/10/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/57/543/843.abstract N2 - In 1982 I attended the Spring Meeting of the Royal College of General Practitioners and the College of Family Physicians of Canada, in Dublin. Ivan Illich, Catholic priest and anti-establishment philosopher, gave the opening address entitled ‘Medicalisation and primary care’. His theme was that, by undermining people's self-reliance, we GPs were more part of the problem than the solution. He left us all feeling confused, browbeaten and angry. Questions were asked, but the answers came only in the form of stories. We dispersed to our small … ER -