The role of doctors in both the treatment of cancer patients and their families plays a critical role in helping both the patient and their family deal with the stress, burden, and, in some cases, grief during and after treatment. This is evident in Jerome Groopman’s novel, The Measure of Our Days, especially in the story of Matt. Throughout this story, Groopman demonstrates this role, as both he and Dr. Samuels give Billy hope during Matt’s cancer treatments, and aid him in accepting Matt’s inevitable death.
Throughout Matt’s first treatment, Groopman and Samuels provide a source of comfort and hope, allowing Billy to combine both his faith in God and his faith in the doctors, and their ability to help Matt heal, as when he first hears Matt’s diagnosis, where he “pressed his hands together in a powerful upward arc…