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This work presents the knowledge and skills necessary for successful written communication in family medicine. It is intended for use by teachers of family medicine who, as part of their academic responsibilities, are called upon to produce written documents in a wide variety of areas. The book has also been written to serve as a resource for leaders presenting faculty development activities in various aspects of written communication, including writing for publication, administrative and educational communication, and other topics of interest to academicians. The Task Force on Professional Communication Skills was formed in 1981 as an initiative of the Board of Directors and the Communications Committee of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM). In early meetings, the Task Force defined its goal as improvement of the communication skills-both written and oral-of STFM members. A survey of Task Force members revealed that the greatest challenges lay in the area of written communication skills, although the needs are not confined to medical article and book writing, but extend to the full range of academic communication. The Task Force set as its first task the creation of a monograph on written communication in family medicine.