Abstract
Physicians as a community are not privy to the inner-workings of the lives of their patients, and as a result of that, they explicitly cannot assume they have a proper understanding of what the patient wants or needs. Conversely, the patient has visited the physician because there is something abnormal in their health that they do not understand. One approach of physician-patient interaction, the informative, would tackle this potential dilemma by, after divulging all pertinent information, allowing the patient full autonomy to decide for himself what the best course of action for them will be, which in theory is comprehensive and responsible. However, this does not account for patient morality, as the physician will present all information through a purely medical lens of procedures and outcomes. Thereby, through engaging in discourse with the patient regarding the elucidation of the patient's values, the interpretive approach will attempt to take into consideration patient morality. Ultimately, this approach will result in far more time consuming clinic visits, as the physician and patient hash out what is morally tenable going forward; however, in the community of dying patients, that very discourse is what will allow the physician, in lieu of saving the patient's life, to save what remains of the patient's life.