The term family therapy can be misleading. ‘Family’ is open to many interpretations, if not attacks, because it is frequently read as implying a twoparent, heterosexual couple with two children, with the woman primarily the ‘homemaker’ and the man the ‘breadwinner’, with occasional backup from the grandparents. Such a picture would seem to marginalise or exclude other family forms, such as chil...

eLife is publishing a collection of articles and interviews with scientists who are parents to explore how to get the best of both worlds.

The ultimate answer to the question, “Why research in family medicine?” is to provide better care for our patients. Through research we want to improve quality of primary care by improving our understanding and practice of it. This research will inevitably be specifi c for family medicine as family medicine is a specifi c discipline. In this article we fi rst explore what makes family medicine ...