How literature and popular movies can help in medical education: applications for teaching the doctor−patient relationship

Editor – It is not very original to claim that explaining the peculiarities of the doctor)patient relationship to pre-clinical medical students is an uneasy task. In general, most students are trained in diseases, not in patients. Later, bedside teaching may help, but often the clinical picture is perceived as being more important than the psychosocial aspects of the sick person. Furthermore, inadequate role modelling by some tutors may make the acquisition of these attitudes and competences difficult. Lectures may be inadequate to teach these issues, as they do not encourage full interaction with students. Therefore, alternative methods of approaching such issues should be welcomed.