TY - JOUR T1 - Half a day at the movies: film studies in the VTS course JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 806 LP - 809 VL - 55 IS - 519 AU - John Salinsky Y1 - 2005/10/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/55/519/806.abstract N2 - For the last 3 years in our GP Vocational Training sessions we have been showing a full-length film once a term. We were already including the arts in the curriculum in the form of visits to galleries and theatres and discussions of literary novels. The hope is that this kind of educational experience will promote a greater empathy with patients as well as broadening the general education of the GP registrars and SHOs.Film has been widely used in the form of short extracts to trigger a discussion about particular practice situations (for example, a dying patient, unwanted pregnancy, family dysfunction and breaking bad news).1 Students have been found to respond very readily to scenes, mainly from mainstream films that resonate with problems that they have encountered in the hospital or GP setting. But we wanted to do something rather different.To begin with we wanted to show classic films which were good enough to be widely acclaimed as works of art. That is, films which could take their place alongside classic works of literature, drama, music and painting. For the same reason we also wanted to show each film from beginning to end. You can analyse a work of art and examine individual details but you have to experience it as a whole to begin with. We wanted to show our trainee GPs the best that the cinema had produced over 100 years of existence. That meant good scripts, good acting, beautiful evocative photography and skilful direction. Films with as near as possible a single presiding auteur, generally the director, tended to be preferred. If the whole production was touched by genius, so much the better. We wanted the films to be entertaining, indeed entrancing. Seduction is an important part of what cinema is about. But we felt … ER -