There are many things I love about the National Gallery of Canada, but none more than the ramp leading up to the art collection. One can walk up slowly and contemplate the changing light, or jaunt up during a lunch break to commune with a few favourite pieces of art, replenish, and prepare for an afternoon clinic.
Sometimes my colleagues take our residents to the gallery, which is just steps away from the hospital where we work. They use visual thinking strategies1—techniques proven to build observational skills, empathy, and teamwork. But I think the ramp itself is also instructive: family practice is challenging, and we need to clear our heads between tasks. Ascending that ramp can be centring and reminds us of the awesome responsibility we have as doctors in the liminal space between medicine and society.
In this, the first issue of 2026, Canadian Family Physician is proud to launch 2 related series: a collaboration with the National Gallery of Canada to provide cover art to accompany reflections on Ian McWhinney’s original 9 principles of family medicine, in celebration of the centennial year of his birth (page 20).2 We think it is a perfect match. In the current crisis in family medicine, looking back at founding principles can be instructive and art, especially coming from another national institution, we hope will be inspiring.
McWhinney’s original principles3 speak to the space between medicine and society, and how we cannot understand our patients without understanding their context and communities. They are not outdated: even apparently anachronic notions of integrating professional and personal life and of “sharing with patients of the same habitat” portend current conversations around geographic catchment, empanelment, and providing home care for our aging population.2 We are thrilled that Dr Jane Philpott, among others, will share personal and professional reflections about current efforts to increase access to care in our upcoming issues.
It is no accident that the National Gallery of Canada is on the border of many spaces and influences. It, by needs and wants, borrows from many traditions. McWhinney also, by virtue of his new Canadian identity, brought a confluence of ideas together into a greater whole.
I never met McWhinney, but I understand he was a humble man. Our national gallery also tries to be humble and open, including to the possibility that everything is connected. As I ascend its ramp, I am struck by our current angst, but also the potential moving forward: the space that expands to reveal something greater than ourselves.
A photograph of the ramp located inside the National Gallery of Canada leading to the art collections. Used with permission from the National Gallery of Canada. Alternate. Photo: NGC/MBAC.
Footnotes
The opinions expressed in editorials are those of the authors. Publication does not imply endorsement by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
Cet article se trouve aussi en français à la page 9.
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