Self Awareness and Self Care

There are two vastly different ways of knowing required for medical practice: one is the objective, rational, deductive ways of knowing that have led to such significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. The other is the knowing required to use that knowledge in the service of individual patients (illness). The latter requires skills in interpretation, phenomenology, narrative and improvisation. Self awareness and self care refers to that latter set of skills, and focuses on the personal values, attitudes and assumptions which may impact interactions within medical training and practice. A focus on self awareness and self care will help support students in the development of skills required for effective therapeutic relationships with patients, which also help sustain the sense of a physician’s satisfaction with a medical career.

The competent graduate:

• Recognizes personal strengths and limitations relevant to his/her practice of medicine
• Understands the importance and impact of interpersonal interactions in both professional and personal settings
• Manages performance and interpersonal feedback as part of training and practice
• Demonstrates insight into personal values, assumptions and beliefs and their impact on the practice of medicine
• Identifies and addresses problems/issues that might affect his or her own health, well-being, or professional capabilities
• Copes adaptively with stresses likely to occur during medical training and practice
• Seeks to attend to affective and symbolic aspects of human experience