Self-Awareness, Self-Care and Personal Growth

The competent graduate approaches the practice of medicine with awareness of his/her limits, strengths, weaknesses and personal vulnerabilities. The graduate assesses personal values and priorities in order to develop and maintain an appropriate balance of personal and professional commitments. The graduate seeks help and advice when needed for his/her own difficulties and develops personally appropriate coping strategies. The graduate recognizes his/her effect on others in professional contacts. The graduate seeks, accurately receives and appropriately responds to performance feedback.

View Video Clip
Nancy Butler, M.D.
Competency Director, Self-Awareness, Self-Care and Personal Growth

Sample Learning Experiences:

The following exercises are designed to promote understanding of personal value sets and their impact on patient care:

• At the beginning of the first year, in the orientation to the Gross Anatomy class, the instructor talks to the students about their working with a cadaver. In the presentation, the instructor addresses the profound gift a person makes when he/she leaves his/her body to a medical school. Students are asked to write a 1-2 page paper describing their thoughts about working with a cadaver, and it is submitted to the instructor prior to the first lab session. The faculty reviews the students’ papers.
• At a clerkship orientation or during an Intersession activity when students are gathered in a large group, a clinical situation involving one of the competencies may be presented. Presentations may be in the form of a role play, videotape, standardized patients, etc. In order to make the presentation interactive, even in a large group setting, the Audience Response System may be used to allow the students to answer questions and immediately see how their individual responses compare with the entire group’s response. The questions may be followed by short explanations or discussions including research data and/or didactic material which would support one answer over another and which may help a student recognize areas where personal bias or lack of understanding/experience might cause them to make a poor decision.

Bibliography

For more details on this competency, please click here.