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“There is a danger in getting involved with your patient,” Dr. Jack McKee warns his fellow colleagues of the level of commitment that he believes to be fit for a patient/doctor relationship. This quote describes the attitude of an apathetic surgeon who subsequently ignores the concerns of his patients and attempts to reassure them with disparaging retorts. However, once the doctor is diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his throat, he is forced to take the role a patient and must experience the fears that accompany being on the other end of the spectrum. He is forced to wait for treatment, sacrifice his dignity by having to share a room with other patients and by wearing a hospital gown, and most importantly, he is driven to a state of helplessness that breaks down an emotional wall that kept him from truly caring. Before Dr. McKee’s hospitalization, he refused to communicate with his patients about their fears and anxiety of undergoing treatment.
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