Bringing medicine to the masses : exploring the relationship between the medical documentary and the public

Abstract

The medical documentary seeks to bridge the gap between the traditional imbalance of knowledge between the patient and her medical practitioner. This paper will examine the issue of the imbalance of the doctor and patient throughout the history of medicine, explore how the medical documentary seeks to solve this imbalance, and the methods by which it does so. By comparing three related medical documentaries and examining the strengths and weaknesses of each one in its attempt to educate and engage the viewer, I will seek to create a broad model for future medical documentaries and relate how my thesis film fits this new model.