[Lack of doctors in rural districts--situation in Northern Norway, national challenge].

Background: Recruitment of general practitioners to Northern Norway has failed during the last few years, especially in municipalities with a population of less than 4,000, though some small municipalities have maintained a stable medical service. What are the differences between municipalities with stable and unstable services?

Material And Methods: A questionnaire was mailed to the medical officers of the 89 municipalities in Northern Norway, with questions on the structure and organisation of the medical service, and factors influencing doctors' professional life and quality of life in general.

Results: Answers from 62 municipalities were included.

[Erik Gerhard Schytte--Dioceseos Nordlandiae Aesculapius--city medical officer].

Erik Gerhard Schytte (1728-1808) was born in Vega in Northern Norway. He read theology at the University of Copenhagen, but like other Norwegian theological students at the time, he also took an interest in medicine and attended lectures in the field. During some periods, Schytte substituted for the city medical officer in Bergen.

[A physician from Finnmark who pointed out the significance of heredity in congenital hip dysplasia].

In 1918 A.B. Wessel, district physician in Sør-Varanger, Northern Norway, published an article titled Limping families in the county of Finnmark.