CONCLUSION: Physicians' concepts of a good life and death frame their notions of suffering beyond the antithesis of a good life. Suffering is found to be distress at a loss of control, independence and dignity, alongside the presence of physical, emotional and existential distress. Witnessing patient suffering predisposes to physician suffering as they question their goals and roles in patient care. Our findings underscore the need for host organizations, hospitals and clinical departments to invest more in the care of their physicians. We believe these findings ought to be applicable to many resource-limited nations and other health care professionals beyond Malaysian shores.