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Current clinical guidelines assume that biological inputs lead to predictable outputs, effectively treating the human body as a machine. However, the patient, especially the multimorbid patient, functions as a complex adaptive system, characterised by emergent behaviours where small perturbations can lead to disproportionate outcomes. This paper argues that the \u2018straight-line thinking\u2019 of current EBM is mathematically insufficient for general practice. Through clinical vignettes, we demonstrate how single-disease guidelines create unsustainable treatment burdens. Furthermore, we present a rationale for how non-linear analyses of physiological signals can predict frailty years before clinical diagnosis. We propose that family medicine must integrate soft computing methodologies\u2014such as fuzzy logic, fractal analysis and causal inference\u2014not as technological novelties but as the theoretical necessity required to map the non-linear topology of human health. This perspective reframes family medicine not as an exception to evidence-based practice but as the clinical setting where complexity-aware evidence is most critically needed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/fmch-2025-003864","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]],"date-time":"2026-05-27T14:30:15Z","timestamp":1779892215000},"page":"e003864","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Why family medicine requires a paradigm shift from linear guidelines to complexity science"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1824-5802","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammed","family":"\u0130nan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Ankara Etlik City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cenk","family":"Aypak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Family Medicine, Ankara Etlik City Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026052707300512000_14.2.e003864.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1370\/afm.1593"},{"key":"2026052707300512000_14.2.e003864.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.25259\/SNI_429_2021","article-title":"Overview of the modeling of complex biological systems and its role in neurosurgery","volume":"12","author":"Aljuboori","year":"2021","journal-title":"Surg Neurol Int"},{"key":"2026052707300512000_14.2.e003864.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s12913-018-2994-0","article-title":"Embracing uncertainty, managing complexity: applying complexity thinking principles to transformation efforts in healthcare systems","volume":"18","author":"Khan","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC Health Serv Res"},{"key":"2026052707300512000_14.2.e003864.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s12916-018-1057-z","article-title":"When complexity science meets implementation science: a theoretical and empirical analysis of systems change","volume":"16","author":"Braithwaite","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMC Med"},{"key":"2026052707300512000_14.2.e003864.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12961-015-0057-0"},{"key":"2026052707300512000_14.2.e003864.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.46747\/cfp.70017","article-title":"Family medicine is complexity medicine","volume":"70","author":"Fraser","year":"2024","journal-title":"Can Fam Physician"},{"key":"2026052707300512000_14.2.e003864.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2412","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.p2412","article-title":"Medical schools should teach chaos and complexity thinking","volume":"383","author":"Rambihar","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2026052707300512000_14.2.e003864.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Guthrie B , Payne K , Alderson P , et al . 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