Biomedicine is a cultural system of symbols and rituals in which doctors and patients play roles that often oppose each other. The distinctions between these two figures are important in several actions and interactions in medical settings. Doctors must present themselves and therapeutic practice in a certain way and patients must entrust their health to them. I will look at how this is complicated when the patient is a doctor. Through interviews with physicians who experienced severe illness events, I will explore how one balances or transitions between these conflicting identities, seeking to understand what additional challenges a doctor faces as a patient and how personal experiences of illness change a doctor’s practice.