The Professional Self
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Conclusions
The Professional Self
‘‘ What do you do?’’
Perhaps more than almost any other profession, except possibly the priesthood, medicine compels its members to define themselves by their work. Novitiates endure a physically demanding and self-sacrificing apprenticeship, or process of‘‘ socialization,’’ that deeply ingrains the values and identity of the field into its members. Consequently, as we have seen, the threat of losing their job can challenge their deepest senses of meaning and self-definition.
Their profession permeated their very beings. Generally, they had integrated their professional selves and identities, and now, when forced to abandon their careers, faced crises. As Juan quipped,‘‘ Once a doctor, always a doctor,’’ even if retiring or no longer seeing patients. But they struggled.
These physicians illustrated the complexities, nuances, and subtleties of these roles and identities, revealing varying boundaries and conceptions of professional identity. Physicianhood emerged as potent, even postretirement. The more they fought disease in patients, the more they were doctors, and vice versa. Even if no longer working, they tended to define themselves as physicians, an identity that appeared to be a complex amalgam of both‘‘ doing’’ and‘‘ being.’’ Many needed to be doing something to justify still being a doctor in their minds.‘‘ Being’’ emerged from‘‘ doing,’’ but took on attributes and a life of its own.
These providers illuminated tensions between different aspects of themselves— personal versus professional, patient versus physician— and how they bridged these gulfs. Deep conflicts emerged between the social
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