The Article in Brief

Five Careers and Eight Airplanes: An Oral History of John Geyman, MD

John J. Frey III, MD

Background This essay and oral history provide insights into the life of John Geyman, MD, one of the founders of family practice in the United States. In addition to being a rural family physician, he was one of the first residency directors in family medicine and the first editor of the discipline’s first academic journal. His career demonstrates a commitment to the work of clinical practice, a sense of responsibility for strengthening clinical education, a belief that clinical care should be based on science and delivered within a rational system of health care, and a love of flying. Dr. Geyman exemplifies the generation of general practitioners who started family medicine but who kept a personal understanding of both the complex nature of independent practice and a reliance on community.