entering into the very skin of ?

[keannu]

Is the underlined "to experience physicall or mentally of others' pain"? Is it physical or mental?

ex)...Many medical educators assert that the ability to sympathize with others' suffering is a skill that differentiates the best doctors from the rest. So a hospital pioneered a program of bringing actors to perform a series of plays...The actors performed Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh" to get inside alcoholism, and Laurence Houseman's Victoria Regina to understand aging....Medical students assumed the roles of patients with various diseases such as terminal cancer or AIDS. ....This experience of entering into the very skin of another person can help them respond to patients with more understanding.

 

[JMurray]

Is the underlined "to experience physicall or mentally of others' pain"? Is it physical or mental?

Medical students assumed the roles of patients with various diseases such as terminal cancer or AIDS. ....This experience of entering into the very skin of another person can help them respond to patients with more understanding.

keannu.
In my opinion, they can't experience the pain either physically or mentally just by playing the role of a patient. But they could possibly learn something of what it might be like for a patient by experiencing the manner and attitude of doctors, staff and others toward them, and thereafter be more sensitive to a patient's needs and point of view. By "entering into the very skin of another person" I assume they mean the students will immerse themselves in the role of patient deeply enough to get some value out of the process.

not a teacher

 

[minnieuk]

I think it means they need to put themselves in the patient's emotional position since it is to make them more understanding. They need to consider their patients as not just another set of medical symptoms but as individual human beings who will be going through an emotional crisis - frightened, angry etc and they need to consider this.