Perhaps, the most common role of the physician is to relieve suffering. This goal may be carried out in a variety of ways. First, it overlaps with the goal to cure. Surely, the best way to relieve suffering is to cure the patient of his illness or injury. Second, a physician may relieve suffering simply by making the diagnosis.
Most people accept and learn to live with a condition if they know what is causing their suffering.
Third, a physician may alleviate pain directly or indirectly. For example, aspirin decreases and may entirely alleviate the pain of arthritis both by its analgesic and its anti-inflammatory effect. Fourth, a physician may relieve suffering by other modalities. The blockage of an intestine by cancer may be removed, while the cancer continues its malignant course. Cancer that has invaded the bone may be relieved by radiation that shrinks the tumor, but does not kill it entirely.