The patient-centred approach is not new in family medicine. It is 1 of the 6 core procedure skills in the residency curriculum. Twenty years after groundbreaking work by the late Dr Ian McWhinney, patient-centred medicine is once again at the forefront. The Institute of Medicine has made it a measure of the quality of health care, along with safety, efficacy, accessibility, efficiency, and equity. Countless position papers have stated the need for a truly patient-centred health care system, and the position paper of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) is no exception. The CFPC position paper entitled A Vision for Canada. Family Practice: The Patient's Medical Home reiterates our commitment to this core principle and makes it the thrust of this vision. How do we make this vision a reality? A colleague offered this interesting analogy: "When you visit Disney World, you instantly know you are in a kid-centred environment. Clinics and hospitals should instantly feel like that for patients. Sadly, that's not always the case."
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