The Doctor (1991 film)

The Doctor is a 1991 drama film directed by Randa Haines. It is loosely based on Dr. Edward Rosenbaums 1988 book, A Taste Of My Own Medicine. The film stars William Hurt as Jack MacKee, a doctor who undergoes a transformation in his views about life, illness and human relationships.

Returning home from a dinner party, Jack has a coughing fit. His wife Anne is shocked when he coughs up blood all over her and the car. In an examination, Jack has a sample of a growth removed from his throat. The biopsy comes back positive for cancer. His time spent with another, cold impersonal surgeon in this examination is the beginning of his transformation. Further tests and disappointments are blended with scenes of other patients grace and empathy towards each other and a much better view of the delays and missteps of their doctors and medical support personnel.As Jack experiences life as a patient, there comes a clearer understanding of the emotionally void hospitals, some doctors, and his own colleagues can display. He befriends June Ellis, a fellow cancer patient who has an inoperable brain tumor. She gets him to promise to never lie or mislead a patient again. Jack begins to bark at the medical establishment. Jack and June take off to see a native Indian show but the pace is too much for her. His wife, meanwhile, struggles to understand Jacks relationship with June. ........

Source: Wikipedia