In this final volume of his best-selling 'Inner' trilogy, Roger Neighbour explores the relationship between a doctor's professional and private selves. He suggests that the mind of every doctor retains an untrained 'ordinary human being' part - their Inner Physician - which makes an important, though often neglected, contribution to medical practice. This 'Inner Physician', which he also describes as the 'amateur within' or the 'expert minus the expertise', plays a major role in diagnosis and treatment, and is the chief source of insight, empathy and clinical acumen. Roger shows that skilled use of the Inner Physician is one thing that distinguishes the generalist from the specialist.

Roger Neighbour practised as a GP in Hertfordshire for 30 years and was for many years a trainer and course organiser. He was the RCGP's Chief Examiner from 1997 to 2002 and its President from 2003 to 2006. In 2011 he was made an OBE for services to medical education.