Film and narrative medicine: Cinemeducation and the development of narrative competence

The use of films, in whole or in part, has been an important but under-utilized part of medical education for most of the past century. The field of narrative medicine has developed with the recognition of the central role of narrative competence for technically appropriate, socially acceptable and culturally sensitive clinical practice. Essentially, universal appreciation of film and video, coupled with relative efficiencies in time, implies that narrative film studies offer many advantages over more traditional medical humanities approaches. We here describe a basic curriculum in narrative film studies to develop narrative competence for medical personnel, and we provide a brief introduction to the emerging field of narrative medicine.