Intended more for the edification of the patient?

Presumably you mean the 'identification' of the patient?

The quote is clearly aimed at the healer - refer to the first word of the quote: 'physician' which means the 'healer'.

A physician who has healed himself is always in a better position to identify the ailment of his patient - particularly if the patient is suffering from the same affliction.

Edit: I actually think that 'identification' would be better in this situation. I'm not sure if 'edify' is a real word.

I think it's aimed at the healers. It kind of follows along with the maxim, "practice what you preach." This follows the idea that often people who know the best course of action for everybody else, like doctors who can tell you what's wrong with you, don't necessarily follow that course of action or their own advice. For a spot-on example, I once had a doctor who wound up dying of lung cancer because he was a chain-smoker. The same might apply to a divorced marriage counselor, let's say, or a parent who nags their kids to eat their vegetables but yet is carrying around 50 extra pounds from eating too much junk food.

Edit: please see the following:

Physician, heal thyself

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Physician, heal thyself is a proverb found in Luke 4:23.

"And He said to them, "No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'"

The usual interpretation of this passage is, during the Rejection of Jesus, Jesus expected to hear natives of his hometown of Nazareth use this phrase to criticize him.[1]

The moral of the proverb is counsel to attend to one's own defects, rather than criticizing defects in others.[2]