Janssen and Macleod in Pall & Supportive Care talk to patients and their caregivers about how doctors do (or do not) care for them as individuals.
“Building a caring human relationship begins with doctors recognizing themselves and each patient as individuals first and foremost. A connection invited on that level provides a firm base on which to nurture and develop the caring human relationship, indicating in some ways a reciprocal dependence … Developing such relationships can ensure that ultimately medicine is not simply concerned with managing disease, but rather with caring for the person who is suffering.”