You are how sober you are today: Caduceus A.A. groups for impaired physicians

A physician in the "Caduceus" group of doctors in A.A. described how each self-inflated newcomer gradually changed: "All the new doctors who come into Caduceus seem to be under tremendous compulsion to recite their curriculum vitae: their medical schools, their hospital affiliation. They try to make it clear to everyone else that they have great medical knowledge. They make references to some medical issue. In some way, without anybody saying anything, this kind of behavior gradually tapers off. The newcomers begin to realize that instead of 'I am what I do,' the group's silent message is, 'You are how sober you are today – and the rest of it doesn’t matter.'"

Advice to doctors with alcohol or drug problems: Go to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Read another impaired physician story, or read Inside Alcoholics Anonymous, the source book, by Nan Robertson.