The Value of Cinemeducation in Health Sciences Education

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Teaching, Research, Innovation and Public Engagement

Abstract

In teaching some subjects, conveying complexity can be a great challenge, requiring socio-historical, philosophical, and practical contextualisation in diverse settings. This is especially important in disciplines like the health sciences where the objectives involve the practical application of knowledge as well as theoretical analyses. Health professionals need to understand basic transversal concepts such as respect for patients’ autonomy, communication, and empathy and to acquire the skills necessary to put these concepts into practice. To this end, it can be useful to reintroduce the humanities in the training of health sciences professionals. Art, literature, movies, and television series can help students engage emotionally and identify with different characters to appreciate different points of view. Audiovisual productions have long been the artistic format that reaches the widest audience. Movies and television series attract millions of viewers every day, and students’ familiarity with medical television series and their wide availability make these stories a valuable resource that can be exploited for teaching.

Cinemeducation uses material from movies or television series in health science education to convey complex scenarios and situations. It has been used to teach nursing, psychiatry, psychology, and pharmacology, as well as general skills such as communication, empathy, or professionalism.

In this chapter, we introduce some theoretical and historical bases of this pedagogical approach. To show how this approach can be used, we recount some of our recent experiences in using cinemeducation with health sciences students and medical residents, illustrating some of its advantages and limitations.

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Cambra-Badii, I., González-Caminal, G., Gomar-Sancho, C., Piqué-Buisan, J., Guardiola, E., Baños, J.E. (2023). The Value of Cinemeducation in Health Sciences Education. In: Varsou, O. (eds) Teaching, Research, Innovation and Public Engagement . New Paradigms in Healthcare. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22452-2_3

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