Resident self-awareness through group process.

Too frequently the behavioral sciences have been conceived as another specialty from which will be derived new techniques to extend the physician's armamentarium. The doctor/patient relationship as well as referrals and consultations have been assumed to be reducible to ritualized protocols and treatments. The personality of the physician and his interpersonal style both with patients and colleagues have often been ignored as being beyond the purview of professional concern. Yet the person of the physician is subject to the influence of colleagues and patients as well as their factual reports. Traditionally, the physician has not received training to allow him/her more objectively to understand the dynamic social processes through which health care planning is formulated, delivered, and received. With such social skills training the physician is in a better position to understand the dynamic processes within the family itself. Both health-care teams and families exhibit similar problems with parental authority, sibling rivalry, differential learning styles, and different career priorities. It is, therefore, essential that an adequate behavioral science program be structured to include learning experiences in which the physician can gain a greater awareness of self, interpersonal style, professional role, and group dynamic processes. Simulated health-care team exercises and encounter groups are two avenues through which such learning can be approached.