This film is a classic portrayal of a doctor's transformation as a result of his own experience of illness. Like a lot of Hollywood movies, it shows the hero overcoming adversity and coming out a better person; it also a reflection on the different aspects of being a doctor.
William Hurt plays Dr Jack McKee, a cardiac surgeon, who is lively and technically competent, but also arrogant, and who has appalling doctor-patient communication skills. Why is it always the surgeons that seem to be this way? Maybe there is some truth in what Dr McKee says on his ward round with his subservient junior staff, that a surgeon needs to be quick and decisive, and that concentrating on the patient's agenda can be distracting. His big fear seems to be that if he becomes sensitive to the patients' needs and fears, he will be paralysed into inactivity.
Dr McKee develops an irritating cough, and eventually after coughing up blood he goes to see an ear, nose, and throat surgeon in his own hospital, the glamorous Dr Lesley Abbott. There is brilliant acting here by William Hurt, as he portrays a patient having a laryngoscope shoved down his choking throat and then being told bluntly by Dr Abbott, “You've got a growth, doctor.” She, rather like Margaret Thatcher, seems to feel that she has to be as tough as the men to survive in her professional world.
We follow Jack McKee trying to come to terms with his illness, while also carrying on his work as a heart surgeon, and we see just how difficult it is to be both a doctor and a patient, especially when you are playing both roles in the same hospital. The best scenes show the powerlessness and frustrations of being a patient, from nearly being given a barium enema intended for a neighbouring patient, to the endless waiting around and poor staff communication.
The film is much less effective when straying away from the medical arena to portray Jack's close relationships. Finding difficulty communicating with his wife, he seeks solace with a fellow radiotherapy patient, who is dying from a brain tumour. Despite being terminally ill, she is beautiful and elegant with her shaven hair, and they run away together, dancing into the sunset in the Nevada desert. Pure Hollywood schmaltz!
Jack discards his female ENT surgeon for a more sensitive male colleague whom he had previously ridiculed for being a nerd, but now clearly recognises as the sort of doctor he needs. He survives surgery and the temporary loss of his voice, and is finally reconciled with his long suffering wife. He returns to work as a much more caring and effective doctor, able to successfully combine the technical and human qualities of being a doctor.
I use this film extensively when teaching medical students, but it has a lot to teach all doctors, at all stages of their careers.