[From family doctor to medical centre].

could last several days (1). People did not take it for granted that the doctor would invariably be able to come. A hundred years ago, general practitioners still spent a large part of their working day on the road, even though telephones and cars rapidly helped free up more time for patients (1). My grandfather, Abraham Randinius Aasland (1879 – 1942), who was a general practitioner in Skien in the years 1914 – 42, was not among the automobile pioneers. He preferred to travel by Shanks’s pony and actually died while on the way to a house call on foot. My father, Arne Jacob Aasland (1913 – 85), who took over his practice, also spent a lot of his time on house calls. His working day was divided into two: seeing patients in his surgery in the daytime, then home for supper and a brief nap before going out by car for 3 – 4 house calls. At weekends, the GPs in Skien organised their own voluntary on-call schedule.