By participating, the students developed an emotional honesty with them-selves and with each other. They thought and wrote about their chosen profession. They also learned about physical and interpersonal discipline, ethical issues, teamwork and acquired some lifelong skills. Our experience as evidenced by the students' reflective diaries suggests that devised theatre offers potential as a means of encouraging the personal and professional development of medical students.

This article tells the story and explores the experiences of a group of fourth year medical students led by a theatre director/facilitator at the National University of Ireland Galway in 2012 to create a piece of theatre on a theme directly pertinent to their future careers. It considers the process and decisions made by the facilitator/director, the fine balance required between content and skills, between facilitation and direction, and through the development of the piece how participants opened themselves in a unique way to the power of emotional honesty, teamwork and reconnection to their commitment to heal.