AbstractThis paper presents the results of a survey of the practice of primary care in the Israeli kibbutz, a unique social setting. Its aims were: (1) to obtain basic data on physicians living in kibbutzim; (2) to examine the functioning of the kibbutz health care system; and (3) to learn how the kibbutz physician perceives the system.A mail survey, using a 125‐item questionnaire, was conducted of all 251 physicians identified as living in a kibbutz. Completed forms were received from 124 physicians (49.4), 33 of whom are kibbutz members. Data on the physicians and on the kibbutzim in which they live show this to be a representative sample. Results are presented showing characteristics of these physicians and their involvement with patients and how health care is delivered.The discussion centres on three issues raised by study of kibbutz physicians which may have clear implications for primary care practitioners throughout the world: the relationship of the practitioner and her/his family to the community in which she/he works and lives; the potential for expansion and deepening of the scope and role of general practice; and the problematic question of the nurse‐primary care physician relations
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