ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the role of the doctor has been understood; how society has perceived the doctor; and what sort of relationship the doctor and the patient have had. From the 1960s the modern hospice movement, which began in Britain as a strong reaction against the cure-centred dehumanized treatment of patients, has also been a reaction against the way that the doctor’s mask of a healer and that of a scientist as well as a father/priest interact. Western doctors have worn different ‘masks’ to play different roles in dealing with their patients, but the question is who made these masks. In order to understand the Western doctor-patient relationship, the idea of doctor’s masks is a very important aspect to look at, since this has had an influence on the relationship. The doctor-patient relation may then again become the main relationship which could destroy the hospice-community involvement with the dying process of the patient whilst encouraging a doctor-oriented dying process.
