The Soul of the Stethoscope
What Doctors in Palliative Care Teach Us About Medicine, Humanity and Hope
“Doctor, thank you for treating me like a person, not a disease.”
These words, spoken by a patient to Dr Palash Rakshit, NHM, Arunachal Pradesh, may well capture the essence of what it means to practice palliative care. They also mirror a quiet dimension of medicine where success is not measured by the elimination of a disease, but by the restoration of human dignity.
This Doctors’ Day, we reached out to physicians working in palliative care across India, from Ladakh to Kerala, Kashmir to West Bengal, Odisha to Maharashtra, and asked them five simple questions. Why did they choose palliative care? Which patient changed them forever? How do they handle difficult conversations, especially about death? How do they address emotional, social and spiritual suffering? And how do they honour the diverse cultures and beliefs of the people they serve?
The answers came from different geographies and different journeys, yet together they painted a remarkably similar picture. None of them spoke first about medicine. They spoke about people.
Palliative Care Often Chooses the Doctor
Very few doctors said they had deliberately planned a career in palliative care.
Some described finding it almost by accident. A chance conversation with a colleague after retirement. A suggestion from a friend. A search for better work-life balance after motherhood. An online course taken out of curiosity. Others discovered it through deeply personal experiences, including watching a parent battle cancer or recognising, during oncology training, that many patients continued to suffer despite the best available treatments.
What began as coincidence gradually became conviction.
As Dr Sukdev Nayak, Prof. & HOD, Palliative medicine, IMS & SUM Hospital, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, reflected, “ If I cannot always cure the disease, can I, at least relieve their suffering?” That question became the turning point of an entire career. Dr Palash Rakshit added that he chose palliative care because, “…healing is not always about curing. It is about relieving suffering, preserving dignity, and ensuring that no patient feels abandoned.”
For Dr Prasanna Menon, obstetrician and gynaecologist, Dr. Menon’s Palliative Care Centre, Thane, Maharashtra, the journey began outside the confines of her specialty. During her internship and residency, she realised that, ‘…more than treating a patient’s illness, if I truly listened and understood them, there was so much more I could do. Beyond the physical ailment lay the emotional, mental and spiritual suffering. That, to me, is what palliative care is all about.”
Across every response, one theme emerged clearly: palliative care reminded these doctors why they chose medicine in the first place.
The Patients Who Became Their Teachers
Every doctor could recall a patient whose story never left them.
From his early years as a young enthusiastic physician, Dr Nayak recalls a sixteen-year-old girl who hid her cancer from her family out of fear until it was too late. That incident taught him that sometimes the greatest treatment is compassionate presence rather than another intervention.
Dr Pranjal Ramugade, Palliative care physician, Palcare, Mumbai, Maharashtra, remembers a young father with advanced oral cancer whose greatest gift was a year of comfort, dignity, and precious moments with his wife and daughters.
A patient with chronic heart failure confessed to Dr Asha Deshmukh, Intensivist, Palliative care practitioner, Nine Pearls Hospital, Nashik, Maharashtra, “I always hoped to die soon because my symptoms were unbearable. But now, I want to live after you spoke to me.”
Dr Sajad Ahmad Dar, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, GMC Handwara, Kashmir remembered a patient who smiled after pain relief and said, “Doctor, I can now pray comfortably and spend time with my family again.”
Dr. Menon recalls a young bank manager diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease. The challenge extended far beyond explaining the diagnosis. His wife suddenly faced becoming the family’s primary breadwinner, while their two children had to confront the possibility of inheriting the disease themselves. Cases like these, she says, constantly make her ask, “Are we doing enough? Can we do more?”
For these physicians, success was rarely measured in years added to life. It was measured in pain relieved, fear eased, relationships restored, and dignity preserved.
Every patient became a teacher. Every story quietly reshaped the doctor who listened.
Speaking About Death Without Taking Away Hope
Perhaps no aspect of palliative care is more misunderstood than conversations about dying. Yet none of the doctors described these discussions as delivering bad news. Instead, they spoke about listening first.
Dr. Vijay Balaji Kale, Palliative care physician, Snehaanchal Palliative Care Centre, Nagpur tries to understand the patient’s concerns.
Dr Ramugade says she approaches these conversations with honesty, empathy, and patience; giving families time to process emotions.
Dr Ravindra Kumar, Vishnoi Clinic, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, states that his goal is to provide clarity without taking away hope.
Dr Nayak describes these conversations beautifully: “Difficult conversations are never about delivering bad news; they are about preserving hope while speaking the truth with compassion.”
Hope, as Dr Menon keeps repeating with her patients and families, does not disappear when cure is no longer possible. It changes. It may become freedom from pain, attending a child’s birthday or spending time with family. Hope may simply become a peaceful death at home.
Treating More Than Pain
One of the strongest threads running through every response was the understanding that suffering is never only physical.
The doctors repeatedly returned to the concept of “total pain”, a person’s physical, emotional, social, and spiritual distress.
Pain medicines and clinical protocols can often relieve physical symptoms. But fear, loneliness, financial hardship, caregiver exhaustion, loss of purpose, or questions about faith require something different. They require psychologists, social workers, counsellors, spiritual care providers, and often, simply someone willing to sit quietly and listen.
As Dr Dar observed, “For many patients, simply being heard and treated with dignity is as therapeutic as any medication.”
Dr Kuntal Ghosh, Palliative care physician, Saroj Gupta Cancer Center & Research Institute (SGCCRI), Thakurpilukur, West Bengal says, “Physical symptoms management is easier, because we have structured protocols… Emotional, social and spiritual issues are solved with compassion, long conversation, counselling by psychologist and social worker. There are financial issues also. We try to find out some ways like crowd funding, NGO help, social scheme, etc…”
Dr Nilza Angmo, Medical Officer, SNM Hospital, Ladakh sums it up, “Palliative care is truly holistic. Physical symptoms like pain need appropriate treatment, but emotional distress, family concerns, financial difficulties, and spiritual beliefs also influence a person’s well-being.”
Every Family Brings Its Own Story
The final question we asked was about culture.
The responses came from doctors working across India’s extraordinary diversity – Ladakh, Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal and beyond.
Their answers revealed a simple but profound truth: no two families experience illness in exactly the same way.
Some families want every detail explained to the patient. Others believe they are protecting their loved one by withholding information. Religious beliefs influence decisions around suffering, pain relief, artificial nutrition, and rituals after death.
Dr Naila Naqash Medical Officer, SNM Hospital, Leh, Ladakh mentions the tradition in Ladakh where touching the body after death is not permitted, even to perform a standard final ECG. And so, they adapt medical protocols to respect the beliefs of the families.
Dr Menon pointed to one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding palliative care in India. Across religions, cultures and socioeconomic groups, families often believe that seeking hospice or palliative care means they have abandoned their loved one. Many worry about social judgement: “What will people say if we admit our parents to a palliative care centre?”
The doctors were unanimous in one principle – they never assume. Instead, they ask. They listen. They adapt.
As Dr Ramugude says, “Cultural humility is more important than cultural competence.”
The Quiet Transformation
From these responses, one cannot help noticing that palliative care transforms not only patients, it transforms doctors.
Many described becoming better listeners. More patient. Less hurried. More comfortable with silence. More aware that medicine is as much about relationships as it is about prescriptions.
Perhaps that is why so many of them said palliative care had reminded them why they became doctors in the first place.
This Doctors’ Day, as we celebrate the physicians who save lives, we also celebrate those who measure success not only by survival, but by comfort, dignity, connection, and peace. Because sometimes, the most powerful act of healing is not just to cure. It is also to ensure that no one has to suffer alone.
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