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NEWS EXTRA: Roger Dobson Medical students should watch films that inspire compassion BMJ 2005; 330: 166-c [Full text]

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Films that may educate medical students about the tobacco industry

Nick Wilson, George Thomson   (21 January 2005)

The folly of past adventures

John Hopkins   (21 January 2005)

I agree but I would go further

Luis Ayerbe   (24 January 2005)

Re: I agree but I would go further...

susanne mccabe   (25 January 2005)

Films that may educate medical students about the tobacco industry 21 January 2005
Nick Wilson, Senior Lecturer (Public Health) Wellington School of Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand, George Thomson Send response to journal: Re: Films that may educate medical students about the tobacco industry	The BMJ news item by Dobson suggests that the watching of certain films can inspire compassion in medical students [1]. In addition, there are also films that may inspire medical students to become active against the upstream causes of health problems. For instance, the film “The Insider” dramatises the unethical conduct of the tobacco industry in response to the actions of a scientist and a journalist. One study has reported that this film influenced cinema goers’ attitudes towards the tobacco industry relative to those watching a “control” film [2]. An analysis of the emails to the key person portrayed in the film, also attests to “The Insider” having a strong impact on viewers [3]. Furthermore, there may be educational value in medical students undertaking content analyses of tobacco portrayal in popular films. At our medical school, a group of fifth year medical students recently undertook a project to analyse the tobacco-related content in the ten highest- grossing films in New Zealand for 2003 [4]. In addition to the development of their quantitative and qualitative analytic skills, the work highlighted for them the problem of smoking in popular film. It also gave them the opportunity to explore the complex issues around how society might control an industry with a product that is a major hazard to public health. References 1) Dobson R. Medical students should watch films that inspire compassion. BMJ 2005;330:166. 2) Dixon HG, Hill DJ, Borland R, Paxton SJ. Public reaction to the portrayal of the tobacco industry in the film The Insider. Tob Control 2001;10:285-91. 3) Wigand J. The Insider: its effect on the public. Tob Control 2001;10:292. 4) Ah-Yen D, Carroll R, Chakrabarti A, et al. Smokescreen: A research project by fifth year medical students. Wellington: Department of Public Health, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2004. Competing interests: None declared
The folly of past adventures 21 January 2005
John Hopkins, GP Newton Aycliffe DL5 4SE Send response to journal: Re: The folly of past adventures	On his deathbed Don Quixote recognised that his past adventures were folly, which is pretty much what this idea is. The authors make the point that it is easy to display compassion when you are not responsible for the situation. If, as a clinician, you are responsible for a patient's care you do them no service at all by bursting into tears. You need a calm head and careful judgement. It's also folly to imagine one can impose a given emotional value system on intelligent young men and women. They will regard as arrogant fools those who seek to lecture them on how they should and should not feel. Yours sincerely, Dr John Hopkins Newton Aycliffe DL5 4SE Competing interests: None declared
I agree but I would go further 24 January 2005
Luis Ayerbe, GP Church View Health Centre. Grimsby. NELincs P.C.T Send response to journal: Re: I agree but I would go further	I agree with you but I would go further. The Humanities give us a great perspective about what is good for the human being (something not always obvious), which actually is the target of our work. Therefore Art, Literature, Cinema, History… should be highly recommended to medical students and to qualified doctors as well. By the way Don Quixote is a very deep book, nearly bottomless. Its main character, although sometimes behaves as the typical psychotic, some other, with all his altruism, seems to be very healthy. Don’t you think so? Competing interests: None declared
Re: I agree but I would go further... 25 January 2005
susanne mccabe, retired cf24 3pf Send response to journal: Re: Re: I agree but I would go further...	No, can't say I do.Perhaps there is a danger of taking this approach too far. The humanities can give insight into the human condition yes, but it misses the point if an extrapolation is made from a character in a book to real persons being described as 'the typical psychotic'.Individuals with mental health problems have varied individual identities and have suffered from being grouped together in terms of 'the typical psychotic'. One of the best way of coming to understand people with mental health problems is not so much on formal placements or in a clinical setting but to attend 'user' groups, meetings and conferences where individuals are not in the disadvantaged position of being perceived as 'client/patient/user' but on their own territory demonstrating how much they have to teach others about the human condition. The degree of skill, understanding, support and compassion many show to other human beings experiencing similar problems is inspiring. Competing interests: None declared