Educating Medical Students about the Personal Meaning of Terminal Illness Using the Film, “Wit”

Abstract

The film 'Wit' gave the students an opportunity to explore their beliefs, values and attitudes in terms of the bio-psycho-social-spiritual aspects of health care and encouraged them to think more about the humanitarian issues of the medical profession.

Palliative care in medical practice: medical students' expectations

“…Medical students’ expectations of how satisfying palliative care will be have been little investigated to date: one study of Turkish medical students found only 65.3% expected palliative care to be ‘fairly or very satisfying’, a lower proportion than found in the present study 10. Other studies using the Sullivan statements have found that medical students have positive attitudes about the importance of palliative care, but negative attitudes about the potential personal impact 11.…”

The current landscape of television and movies in medical education

“…Empathy was the topic of many studies [ 19 – 23 ]. Doctor-patient communication or interactions was also examined [ 21 , 24 ].…”

“…In the papers reviewed regarding the use of movies in medical education, psychiatry/mental health [ 25 – 32 ] dominated as educational topics. Hollywood movies, documentaries, and short films were screened in full or shown as clips to teach students on topics such as professionalism [ 21 , 22 , 33 ], ethics [ 34 – 36 ], cultural competence [ 5 , 37 , 38 ], managing severe or terminal disease [ 23 , 24 ], breaking bad news [ 14 ], death and dying [ 24 ], and alcohol and other drugs [ 39 , 40 ]. The subjects of sexuality [ 41 ] and clinical pharmacology [ 42 ] were raised in select studies.…”

“…The subjects of sexuality [ 41 ] and clinical pharmacology [ 42 ] were raised in select studies. Specific disease topics mentioned were cancer [ 24 ], epilepsy [ 29 ], and AIDS [ 23 ]. For details about each study,…”

An Example of Using Cinema Films as a Long Case: The Doctor

“…Örneğin; Wit filmi Amerika Birleşik Devletleri başta olmak üzere Avrupa ve Uzak Doğunun çeşitli ülkelerinde araştırma projesi konusu olarak seçilmiştir ve bu filmin özellikle yaşam sonu konuları eğitimine olumlu katkısından söz eden sonuçları yayınlayan çok sayıda çalışma bulunmaktadır (27,28). Ülkemizde de tıp fakültesi birinci sınıf öğrencileri ile yürütülen bir çalışmada, araştırmacılar yaşamın sonu konularını ve hasta hekim ilişkisini bu film üzerinden sorgulamış ve çalışmanın sonucunda bu tür sinema filmlerinin yenilikçi, etkili bir eğitim yöntemi olduğunu belirtmişlerdir (29) (39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44). Öğrencilerin bu konularda hekimden deontolojik kuraları göz önünde bulunduran ve empatik bir yaklaşım beklemeleri hekimlik sanatının en önemli bileşenlerinden haberdar olduklarını düşündürdü.…”