Smoking, domestic violence, HIV, heart attacks, depression... All societies' woes - many exacerbated by the stresses of globalisation - land up in the hands of doctors.But being a family doctor is often an isolating experience. Thus, the 16th World Congress of Family Doctors (WONCA) held last week in Durban was an opportunity for doctors to get out of their consulting rooms and in touch with new research and new ideas for treating patients. In many ways, the congress '€“ which attracted 2 288 delegates from 76 countries - was an assessment of the pulse rate of the world'€™s citizens.