The first part of this paper explores what we mean by the word ‘sensitising’ and presents an argument for conceiving of ‘sensitising’ in a way that respects the intellectual as well as the healing roles of medical practitioners, while taking the concept further as ‘ informed reflection’. It also makes a case for the importance of sensitising in medical ‘praxis’. The second part of the paper describes an approach which is based partly on a module that has been taught in a medical programme