Physician self-awareness: the neglected insight.

Self-awareness is vital to a physician's development. Understanding the impact of our internal subjective world on our attitudes and values and on the fantasies we have of reality is important to us as doctors. Some of the means of acquiring this self-knowledge include accurately perceiving the reflection of one's self in patients, understanding one's learning style, studying and enjoying the humanities, expressing one's self creatively, maintaining a sense of humour and examining one's reaction to experiences. When confronted by a person who is ill the physician must take action that is constructive and affirmative and not compromised by behaviour that originates in unexamined personal issues.