Building Caretakers: Using Stanislavsky-Based Acting Exercises in Medical Training for Future Doctors

This case study explores how Stanislavsky’s legacy of actor training offers pedagogy that helps future doctors embody and perform a more connected, empathetic demeanour with others. It explores role-playing and Stanislavsky-based training that helps medical students embody and perform empathic responses in high-stress circumstances. Since Stanislavsky’s actor training requires performers to physically and vocally respond to internal and external stimuli, using theatre-based pedagogy in medical schools can directly impact how future doctors define, express, and perform empathetic response in their medical practice.