Share this page

GPs – caring for you for the whole of your life

Member news
14 May 2019

About World Family Doctor Day

The World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) has 118 member organisations in 131 countries and territories (including New Zealand). The 500,000 family doctors (we call them GPs) who are members care for more than 90 per cent of the world’s population.

Every year since 2010 WONCA has celebrated World Family Doctor Day (WFDD). This year WFDD falls on Sunday 19 May. The purpose of WFDD is to “acknowledge the central role of our specialty in the delivery of personal, comprehensive and continuing health care for all of our patients. It’s also a chance to celebrate the progress being made in family medicine and the special contributions of family doctors globally.”

This year’s theme for WFDD is “Family doctors – caring for you for the whole of your life”.

Celebrating general practice

General practice is the speciality that treats patients with the widest variety of conditions and the greatest range of severity. GPs treat patients at all ages and stages of their lives, often providing continuity of care throughout a patient’s lifetime.

In celebration of World Family Doctor Day on 19 May, we asked College members to tell us what the phrase "caring for you for the whole of your life" means to them. Patients from all over New Zealand also sent thank you messages for their GPs – see a few of those messages here.

Share what “cradle to grave” care means to you as a GP by emailing communications@rnzcgp.org.nz and you could be in to win a morning tea shout for your practice! We're sharing messages from GPs and patients on our Facebook page.