Identity types
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changing alliances in the medical community. These physicians’ identities were affected by the
external forces of the current environment of medicine. While there was no link between
specialty and this identity type, two of these three physicians had been physicians for well over
thirty years. It is probable that these older physicians would want to return to how it was for
their fathers’ generation in medicine, which in fact one of them directly commented to this
effect. All three of the physicians were private practice physicians, indicating perhaps that these
sentiments were more likely to arise in physicians in these Group and Solo contexts. The next
group of physicians viewed themselves and their world in a more self-contained way.
Internal Identity Types
Physicians in this category are those who described having either zero or one external influence
as depicted in Figure 1. In fact, half of these physicians indicated having no external influences.
The different identity types in this group are balanced positive, disillusioned, and minister.
Internal balanced positive
The six physicians who comprise this identity type are similar in many ways to the physicians
who make up the external balanced pragmatist identity. The primary difference appears to be the
lack of external influences in their professional lives, although these comparisons will be
explored in more detail below. As shown in Figure 6, these physicians believed in the
importance of helping others and valued their relationship with their patients. They believed that
sacrifice was part of medicine but derived satisfaction from patient care.
These physicians were labeled “positive” because of the absence of any negative
sentiments in their identity. They evinced a strong sense of organizational identification,
managed multiple identities and even brought in additional identities such as teacher, employee
Convention