Being an Oncologist is a Privilege with Sober Responsibilities

Finally, because of the natural instinct for self protection, is it justified for the cancer physician to remain emotionally detached, and in doing that, fail to provide an intensity of feeling that might be more helpful to the patient during treatment and even on into the dying process?

These questions and many others randomly flow through the lexicology of cancer management. The answers often cannot be rigid because so much of human nature varies from individual to individual—patient and physician alike—and there should be a somewhat tailored approach for the individual patient; however, a consistent pattern should underlie it all, and the standards by which these questions are answered should be established by a medical profession that understands and advocates what is right as opposed to what is wrong.

Dr. Sessions is professor of otolaryngology at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Reference

1. Sessions RB. The Cancer Experience: the doctor, the patient, the journey. Chapter 2. Lanham, Md.: Rowman Littlefield; 2012.