Dr. Arnold Gold, a pediatric neurologist whose belief in the importance of an empathetic bedside manner led him and his wife to create a foundation to inspire young doctors to practice compassionate patient care, died on Jan. 23 in Manhattan. He was 92.

His wife, Sandra Gold, confirmed his death.

“You’re only half a physician if you’re just good at your craft,” Dr. Gold said in an interview in 2016 for the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. “Unless it’s coupled with patient-centered care and humanism, it’s suboptimal care.”

Dr. Gold, who treated patients and taught for more than 50 years at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, part of Columbia University Medical Center, had a cheerful but authoritative demeanor. On rounds, he wanted to know about the life of the patient, not just his vital signs. He talked face to face with his young patients, often sitting on the floor and playing with them.

“He enjoyed kids and he dealt with them in a wondrous way,” Dr. David Mandelbaum, a former student of Dr. Gold’s at Columbia who is a professor of neurology and pediatrics at the Brown University Alpert Medical School, said in a telephone interview. “He always sensed what a kid was able to do, not what he couldn’t do.”