Relation doctor-patient in oncology: fears, anguishes and communication abilities among doctors in Fortaleza, Ceará State, Brazil

In oncology the doctor-patient relationship has a particular importance due to the gravity of the illness and to the stigma that is followed many times by the experience of the patient. This research was designed to analyze perceptions and difficulties that doctors face when they are dealing with oncology patient. It is a qualitative study, based mainly on open and in-depth interviews, involving 20 doctors from the Cancer Institute of Ceará. From the relationship of Dr. Sheila with her patients, Cássio and Elisa, fictitious personages of a chronicle larded in the quarrel of the article, the main facts are illustrated. We tried to approach four main subjects: the construction of the bond, the communication abilities performance, the therapeutic approach and the family interaction. The suffering and the emotional implications of patients and familiars, the differences in communication between the interviewed doctors, mainly in reference to the transmission of the diagnosis and the therapy, become important factors that influence the relation and the establishment or not of the therapeutic bond. Because of this, it seems to be necessary studies and debates concerning this subject, aiming at an incorporation of this thematic in the medical training.

Doctor-patient relationship; Oncology; Therapeutic bond; Communication abilities; Family; Medical education