KNOWLEDGE: Students will need to know that behavior is an essential determinant of health and that information conveyed in the media is an important tool used in all modern societies. Students will learn that important public health issues can be addressed in films, watched by a large audience, with big positive and negative potential.

 ABILITIES: Students will need to be able to integrate their previously acquired knowledge and abilities from the other units of the Master in Dental Medicine and apply this within the context of Public Health. They will learn how to make a critical appraisal of health messages conveyed in commercial films.

 ATTITUDES: Students will need to understand the importance of dental surgeons (dentists) acting as advocates of Public Health for the population.

Public Health problems:

• Behavioural risk factors (eg smoking);

• Health services (organization and impact);

• Controversies on the evidence-based public health approach;

• Dealing with microbiological, environmental and social risks for health;

• Teaching public health to dental medical students.

Group work in the classroom. Students will watch and discuss four movies/documentaries: “And the Band Played On”, “Sicko”, “Thank you For Smoking” and “Fed Up”.

There will be a more detailed description of the teaching methods, made available in the Guidelines on SIGARRA.

Films will be seen and discussed during the lectures. A critical appraisal strategy will be used. Each students group will be responsible for the presentation and discussion of one film. See the bibliography on this teaching method, previously used by others.

Remote teaching strategies will be used till the 19th of April 2021. After that we hope to resume traditional approaches.