Film-Based Medical Education and Social Justice Elective
Film-Based Medical Education and Social Justice Elective: A 14-week elective course (approximately 2 hours/week) using selected films/film clips with structured group discussion and reflective activities/journaling.
Study summary
This study will examine whether a 14-week elective course that uses films and guided discussion on social justice in health care can improve medical students' empathy skills and reduce alexithymia (difficulty recognizing and describing emotions). Approximately 50 volunteer medical students will participate. Students who choose the elective course will form the intervention group, and students who do not take the course will form a comparison group. All participants will complete the same questionnaires/assessments at the beginning and at the end of the semester. The main goal is to compare changes in empathy and alexithymia scores between the two groups.
Eligibility
Sex
ALL
Min age
18 Years
Max age
—
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Inclusion Criteria:
* Enrolled medical student at Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University Faculty of Medicine, registered in Year 1, 2, or 3 during the study period.
* Age 18 years or older.
* Provides written/electronic informed consent after being informed about the study.
* For the intervention arm: enrolled in the elective "Film-Based Medical Education and Social Justice" course.
* For the control arm: from the same academic year/cohort during the same period and not enrolled in the elective course.
* Willing and able to complete both baseline (T0) and end-of-course (T1) assessments (has sufficient cognitive/communication ability to complete questionnaires).
Exclusion Criteria:
* Does not provide consent or withdraws consent at any stage.
* Younger than 18 years.
* Does not complete at least one of the two assessments (T0 or T1).
* Leaves critical sections of the questionnaires/assessments largely blank (e.g., substantial missing items on TAS-20 or incomplete scenario responses preventing scoring).
* Duplicate/duplicate submission (more than one form from the same participant for the same assessment).
Primary outcome measure(s)
Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) Total and Subscale Scores (Change) — Baseline (T0) and end of course (T1, approximately 14 weeks) Change in TAS-20 total score and subscale scores (Difficulty Identifying Feelings, Difficulty Describing Feelings, Externally Oriented Thinking). Higher scores indicate higher alexithymia.
Scenario-Based Empathy Skills Total Score and Rubric Subscores (Change) — Baseline (T0) and end of course (T1, approximately 14 weeks) Change in total empathy skills score derived from responses to study-developed scenarios scored with a rubric based on Dökmen's staged empathy classification; includes rubric subscores/levels if applicable.
Jefferson Scale of Empathy S(tudent)-Version — Baseline (T0) and end of course (T1, approximately 14 weeks) JSE-S is a self-administered 20-item questionnaire scored on a 7-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly agree). Total score is the sum of item scores (range 20-140); higher scores indicate higher empathy.
Trial sites (1)
Facility
City
Region
Status
Faculty of Medicine
Çanakkale
Çanakkale
More Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University trials in Turkey
This page summarises publicly available registry data for informational purposes — not medical advice. Eligibility is determined by each study team; patients should discuss participation with their clinician.
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