TY - JOUR T1 - Reasons to be cheerful JF - BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care JO - BMJ Support Palliat Care SP - 230 LP - 230 DO - 10.1136/bmjspcare-2014-000677 VL - 4 IS - 3 AU - Derek Willis Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://spcare.bmj.com/content/4/3/230.abstract N2 - Dr Derek Willis MBChB(Hons) FRCP JCGPTE MSc is a Physician Working in an English Palliative Care Service. My son asked the question that I guess most palliative care specialists dread; he asked exactly what kind of doctor I am and what is it that I actually do when I go to work. How do you tell a 9-year-old that you're the kind of doctor that doesn't get people better, only makes them feel better? We had the argument that I'm a person that treats but never cures people, but in Tom's head cure and doctor go together so, therefore, I can't be a doctor. It reminded me of a psychologist friend, whose daughter asked her what she did at work. She replied that she … ER -