Then in medical school, he had to deal with cadavers. But still, it took some adjusting. People make jokes about death and things outside of the room. So it's the way people deal with it. Cline is being taught that he doesn't have to be callous to be able to cope, and that it's not always a doctor's failure when a patient dies.
Death is part of life.
But even with the role playing, he's not looking forward to putting what he's learned into effect. When it comes to times where I'm in the hospital, on the wards, talking to a real patient, it won't be as easy. I'll need to sit back, and it will be upsetting. It would be a much longer process, a much more difficult process, for both of us. He says what doctors need to learn is to become a little numb to it.