The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of role-playing with dying patients and their families on the personal death constructs of medical college undergraduates. Personal constructs of free-response narratives were analyzed and compared before and after the completion of a course on role-playing with dying patients (N=33) or a course on coping processes and techniques (N=21). The hypothesis of the present study was supported by the results. The quantities of the personal death construct dimensions and the frequencies of the role-playing in classes significantly increased scores on the post test compared with those of the pretest or after taking the coping processes and techniques class. Regression analyses showed that role-playing was the predictor of post test quantities of personal death construct total dimensions, total frequencies, as well as that of dimensions of the following core constructs including positive cognition, positive affect and negative affect. The meanings of construct changes and how role-playing was effective in addition to the practical implications for medical education and future research were discussed.
