Walking in One's Own Shoes

Medi cal stude nts are taught ba sic scien ces and clini cal scie nces during th eir undergraduate training. Psychia t r ists and other ph ysicians a re tau ght pa t ient ca re in th eir resid en cy programs. In medical ed ucat ion, th e topi c of illness in th e physician is rarely di scussed . The differences between doct ors who have personally expe rience d a serious medical illn ess a nd those who have not usu all y go un exam ined. It is as if wa lking in our patient 's shoes is a topic so overwhelming that it has becom e tab oo. Psychiatry differs from other di sciplines becau se th e psychi atrist is more dep en dent upon his own life expe rie nce a nd it s rol e in th e t ran sferen t ial re lat ionship. In Illn ess in the A nalyst, Drs. Schwartz and Silver, both survivors of se r ious illnesses, explore how th is expe rie nce ca n affect both ph ysician a nd patient. The book is a collec t ion of articles writt en by different au t hors exa mining a va rie ty of aspect s of this rarely explore d topi c. The first sec t ion, Personal Reflections, explores how serious illness affect s th e analyst. This sect ion is divided in to three chap te rs, t he first bein g "T he Ana lyt ic Attitude in th e Servi ce of Denial " byJacob A. Arl ow, l\-LD., wh ere he rep ort ed: