“1, 2, 3… action”: using cinema to study illness metaphors in medical education

Abstract

Cinematography has shown itself to be a versatile tool in medical education, being used to study the health-illness-care process. This article describes the experience of using cinematography to discuss illness metaphors on a medicine course at a federal university in Brazil. As preparation, the students read about signification and illness metaphors. We showed the film “Still Alice” and the students debated the theme, drawing on the film’s metaphors. They then visited primary care services to apply the use of the metaphors. The findings show the importance of the social determinants of health and relevance of actions that go beyond the realm of biology. Besides being game-based, the activity was educational and sought to make learning more meaningful. The findings confirm that cinematography is an effective tool for interpreting illness metaphors and contributes to better medical practice.