Movies as innovative tools for teaching psychiatry: a new model for cinemedicine

BACKGROUND: The use of film as a support and integration to teaching has been the focus of studies, articles, and reviews, within the teachings of practical health care. It has now become a trend called cinemedicine. Drawing from cinemedicine, the Learning through Film (LtF) case study analyses the most significant aspects of the method and its potential use for an integrated application in universities. METHODS: This article shows the adoption of the method (LtF) in the fifth year of the Single Cycle Degree in Medicine and Surgery at the Statale University of Milan in 2019-2020. The method consists in the analysis and presentation by students of paradigmatic films sequences and is structured for the involvement of the entire class group. RESULTS: An analysis of the questionnaires provided to students demonstrates that the methodology improved the effectiveness of teaching by (97.87%) and enhanced students’ understanding of the topics which were addressed (100%). The outcome of these first two questions marked a success for the method. Another aspect that students enjoyed was the improvement of their methods of studying and memorizing. CONCLUSIONS: The LtF method of the Statale University of Milan appears to be useful for both students and teachers. Students found that it increased the degree of their involvement and their learning. The films helped students’ understanding of clinical cases that would otherwise have been studied only theoretically. Teachers discovered that the method improved their teaching skills.