Roy J. Gerard, MD, followed a war-torn path to becoming one of the founders of family medicine as a medical specialty. Gerard’s story – from his youth in Michigan to the Battle of the Bulge in World War II to developing the Wise Physician concept – contains invaluable lessons for family physicians. And, although Gerard died on April 17, 2022, at the age of 97, you can still listen to his story – and learn directly from him – thanks to the Center for the History of Family Medicine’s (CHFM) Oral History Project.
Gerard recorded his oral history in 2007, leaving us an archived, impossible-to-replicate report on the forces that shaped him and, in turn, helped shape our field.
Born and raised in Michigan, Gerard’s story brings the horrors of World War II into focus. Severely injured during the Battle of the Bulge, Gerard was remarkably – and repeatedly – rescued, and went home to Michigan. He enrolled in the University of Michigan on the GI Bill with plans to be an engineer. Fortunately for all of us, he soon switched to medicine. Gerard hung up a shingle describing himself as a family physician in 1955, the same year he joined the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians, known at the time as part of the American Academy of General Practice.
As the father of 14 children and a doctor from the days when house calls were standard practice, Gerard felt strongly that knowing the patient, and understanding the patient’s family situation, was critical to providing excellent health care. He termed this concept the Wise Physician.
“In the Wise Physician, you get to know the patient and the patient gets to know you, so the doctor/patient relationship just spins off of that,” Gerard says in his recording. “I make the residents sit down and find out who the patient is. To me, that’s the Wise Physician. When I’m a patient that’s what I want. I fired a couple of doctors who were my doctors because they didn’t get it.”
Following his passion for comprehensive care, Gerard became the founding chair of the Michigan State University-College of Human Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine and served in that role from 1974 until 1992. When he launched the program, it was one of only a handful in the U.S. devoted to family medicine.
Gerard believed “primary care should be a symphony of care,” with a family physician, general internist, and pediatrician all prepared to serve as conductors or musicians, depending on “the nature of the tune.” He said his ideal health care team would include everyone who “relates to the social nature of medicine, so obviously social workers, psychologists, nurses, school teachers, and – eventually – physicians, because it’s more of a social issue than it is a medical issue and to make the medical issue work, you have to have the social conduits.
“When I look back at my life,” Gerard said, “I discovered that the home visit was a social conduit back then. We have to find out what that social conduit is in this next century and the willingness to be flexible enough and give up turf to make it happen.”
It’s easy for you to look back at Gerard’s remarkable life. His fascinating oral history is available 24/7 on the CHFM’s SoundCloud account, where you’ll also find dozens of other engaging stories. We encourage you to explore!