Norwegian medicine is interwoven with the country's history, social structure, and its organization of health services. Health services in Norway are based on an ideology of equality and solidarity in which decentralization and strong primary care are crucial elements. The aim is treatment at the lowest effective level of care, irrespective of patients' financial or social status. Health services have high political priority and people expect a great deal of them. The medical profession in Norway has a double loyalty: to the individual patient and to society at large. The gate keeper-role, which has been most prominent among general practitioners, reflects economic responsibility as well as some hesitation in the use of extensive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Norwegian medicine has never been particularly eager on interventions. This could be explained both by strong governmental control and a traditional Norwegian moderation. The medical profession is less homogenous than before, but still has a strong community of communication. The concept of health among Norwegians is pragmatic and holistic. The relationship between health and nature is strong and in line with people's conception of nature in general. Social developments such as individualization, internationalization and economic ways of thinking together with increasing specialization and market adjustment in the health services make for rapid changes in Norwegian medicine. It is more and more difficult to define national features, but those existing are well worth defending.