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Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

  • 1.  Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-14-2020 12:42:00 PM

    What's your favorite movie about medicine or science?

    Share your recommendations-anything from blockbuster fiction to documentary to biopics. We will use your responses to develop a movie guide to be shared later this month.

    I'll get us started... I absolutely love "The Physician." What's it about you ask? During the 11th century, a destitute orphan travels to Persia to study medicine with a famed healer (Ben Kingsley!!!). Not always scientifically accurate, but very enjoyable!

     



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    Stephanie Weiner
    Director, Digital Strategy & Engagement
    Association of American Medical Colleges
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  • 2.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-14-2020 02:50:00 PM
    At the risk of ruining my reputation as a serious intellectual... Doc Hollywood.
    Where Michael J. Fox highlights the physician shortage issues in rural and underserved areas. 



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    Nicole Buckley
    Communications Strategist
    Association of American Medical Colleges
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-15-2020 08:19:00 AM
    And would love to hear how you USE film in your educational practices for teaching and learning in medicine. Please share.

    Also, watch here for an exciting invitation coming soon about an upcoming virtual #MedEd community discussion of a powerful new documentary!​

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    Lisa Howley, PhD
    Sr. Director, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships in Medical Education
    Association of American Medical Colleges
    lhowley@aamc.org
    @LisaDHowley
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-15-2020 08:41:00 AM
    An older reference but a good resource for using film to teach in medicine - 
    https://www.bmj.com/content/330/7503/s232.2

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    Lisa Howley, PhD
    Sr. Director, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships in Medical Education
    Association of American Medical Colleges
    lhowley@aamc.org
    @LisaDHowley
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-15-2020 06:33:00 AM
    There are so many! But the first ones that come to mind are

    •  The Crash Reel, a documentary about snowboarder Kevin White. The documentary was being filmed at the time he had his catastrophic accident, and his family generously agreed to let the cameras keep rolling in the hospital and throughout the next several years of his recovery and rehabilitation. We get to see the impact of TBI on patients and their families, through unscripted moments -- living not just with the physical disabilities (when they exist) but importantly with the changes in personality, judgment, self-image, independence, emotion, etc. Added value -- the personal dynamics are enriched by one of Kevin's brothers who has Down syndrome.
    • The Soloist, based on a true story (adds impact, IMO), offers great insight on intersectionality of mental disorders (schizophrenia) and social disparities (homelessness) and has great performances. Personally, I think the flaws that reduced its critical reception are actually strengths. There isn't a clear narrative line (as in life), and it's emotionally ambiguous (also like life!). It does hit home by questioning the good intentions involved in trying to fix someone else's life -- or knowing what that would mean.
    • Departures, an amazing film I first saw as part of the Columbia University Narrative Medicine workshop, gently engages the viewer death -- as a humanizing cultural and personal experience.
    • and of course Wit, Philadelphia, and Something the Lord Made (good time to revisit this film about Vivien Thomas as we bring discussions of institutional racism in medicine front and center)
    This is a great question. Film is such a wonderful way to engage students in "bigger" questions by personalizing them.

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    Nancy Hayes
    Director of Clinical Foundations
    Florida State University College of Medicine
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-15-2020 08:42:00 AM
    Yes @Nancy Hayes great recs! I had forgotten about Philadelphia--is there anything Tom Hanks cannot do?!​

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    Nicole Buckley
    Communications Strategist
    Association of American Medical Colleges
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-15-2020 08:20:00 AM
    Lately it's been Outbreak Dustin Hoffman
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5povsMKfT4

    The original MASH is a favorite

    But, the best, most realistic depiction in my mind of medical drama & comedy is
    SCRUBS
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnKipsspRks

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    Atul Grover
    Exec Vice President
    Association of American Medical Colleges
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-16-2020 06:34:00 AM
    The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a drama television film directed by George C. Wolfe and starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne.
     It's based on the book of the same name by Rebecca Skloot and documents the story of Henrietta Lacks, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in the 1950s, and whose cancer cells, (later known as HeLa ) taken and used without her knowledge or informed consent, would change the course of cancer treatment.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortal_Life_of_Henrietta_Lacks_(film)#:~:text=The%20Immortal%20Life%20of%20Henrietta%20Lacks%20is%20a,%29%20would%20change%20the%20course%20of%20cancer%20treatment.


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    Martha Boisseau
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-25-2020 10:37:00 AM
    For me, it's a tie between Citadel (1938) and Patch Adams!



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    David Skorton
    President/CEO
    Association of American Medical Colleges
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-29-2020 11:28:00 AM

    I love films and so had a hard time coming up with a "short" list (and I know they're not all in the"medicine/science genre, but still worth watching)! I've listed what I think are my favorite 15, but this could easily increase this to 20 or 30.

    Here's the list but it's not in rank order:

    1. Memento
    2. It's a Wonderful Life
    3. Rear Window
    4. Shawshank Redemption
    5. The Big Lebowski
    6. The Usual Suspects
    7. Inception
    8. Princess Bride
    9. The Sixth Sense
    10. Anything by the Coen Brothers
    11. Easy Rider
    12. Fargo
    13. Dances with Wolves
    14. Silence of the Lambs
    15. Matrix

     

    Thanks,

    Janis



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    Janis Orlowski
    Chief Health Care Officer
    Association of American Medical Colleges
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-29-2020 11:34:00 AM
    This is a great list, and I can 100% make the argument for most of these movies fort how they fall into the "medicine" or "science" categories. Memento... the main character suffers from a rare, untreatable form of memory loss; Silence of the Lambs... about a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath; and, The Princess Bride... clearly about the dangers and side effects of ingesting poison ;-)
    Princess Bride movie gif


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    Stephanie Weiner
    Director, Digital Strategy & Engagement
    Association of American Medical Colleges
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-30-2020 07:10:00 AM
    I'm late to this party!  I'd add Altered States and Andromeda Strain, which was the first movie I saw where I then bought the book to read.  That started me down the science path.

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    Richard Bryson
    Service Information Officer
    Penn Medicine
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    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-30-2020 07:52:00 AM
    I'm also late to the party, but here are some that came to my mind:

    The Other Side of the Mountain about skier Jill Kinmont's perseverance after a near fatal accident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQXs0OP5eGY
    Others:
    The Diving Bell & The Butterfly (2007)
    Sybil (1976)
    Terms of Endearment (1983)
    And the Band Played On (1993)
    Sicko (2007)

    MCA



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    Max Anderson
    Dir of Instructional Design and Learning Innovation
    University of Illinois College of Medicine
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    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: Question of the Week: Movies about medicine or science

    Posted 09-30-2020 01:51:00 PM
    Good recommendations! If anyone has 5 minutes to spare, this NPR piece on the real 'Sybil' is a good listen: https://www.npr.org/2011/10/20/141514464/real-sybil-admits-multiple-personalities-were-fake

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    Stephanie Weiner
    Director, Digital Strategy & Engagement
    Association of American Medical Colleges
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    Original Message