title: The efficient use of movies in a crowded curriculum.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The undergraduate medical curriculum has earned a reputation for being overcrowded. The dilemma for educationalists is to determine what, if anything, can be jettisoned from a congested curriculum to accommodate new ideas or material.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  We report on a small study that demonstrated that when movies are used innovatively, they enhance students' understanding of medicine and also have a minimal impact on the 'crowded' curriculum.
  
  
  METHODS
  During a 5-week-long Public Health module students could borrow from the medical school library, free of charge, one or more movies, each with a public health message. In the final week of the module a 1.5-hour-long class was allocated when each student offered a brief synopsis of a movie that they had watched, and then identified key public health issues discussed in the movie.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study supports the view that the creative use of classroom time not only allows for better use of the timetable, but also proves to be an integrative, stimulating, and fun way for medical students to learn.
authors.affiliation: Medical Education Unit, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jaine
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009040:Motion Pictures; D009520:New Zealand; D016730:Program Development; D011634:Public Health / Q000193:education; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires