The first d.I. Rice award visits: a report.

The Donald I. Rice Merit Award was established for presentation to a family physician who is well regarded nationally or internationally. Its purpose is to allow the recipient to visit different parts of Canada, through arrangements made with College chapters and Departments of Family Medicine. The recipient may give talks, share in workshops and meetings, and generally provide stimulus for sharing ideas to promote new directions in family practice. The award consists of a handsome plaque and an honorarium in the amount of $5,000, plus travel expenses for recipient and spouse. In this article Dr. Brian Hennen, the first recipient of the Award, reports on his visits and offers a personal review of the state of family practice and family-practice education as he perceived it.