The importance of the doctor to the dying patient.

The physician plays a central role in the emotional as well as the physical care of the dying patient. The concerns of the terminally ill cancer patient include (1) emotional response to the physical limitations of illness, (2) communication with significant others, (3) self-concept, and (4) resolution regarding impending death. Although a busy physician would not be able to spend much time talking with the patient about these concerns, the physician could communicate to the patient in just a few minutes an empathic understanding of the emotional crises the patient faces. Sometimes only a word or touch of the hand can covey the physician's support and understanding which are so meaningful for a terminally ill patient.