The M23 Cinema (M23-Kino) is an innovative educational course at the Medical Faculty of LMU Munich, which was awarded the LMU Teaching Innovation Prize (LMU Lehrinnovationspreis) in 2024. By utilising feature films and documentaries, along with guest experts and individuals directly affected by the topics, the M23 Cinema raises awareness about medical and socially relevant issues. The cinema evenings are open to medical students from LMU and TUM, medical professionals at any stage of their training, and students from other disciplines at all Munich universities who have an interest in medical backgrounds.

The goal of M23 Cinema evenings is to foster discussions among participants through high-quality films. This approach, known as cinemeducation, encourages students to consider different perspectives, engage in reflective thinking, and connect academic knowledge with emotional narratives. The interdisciplinary and interprofessional format helps future health professionals understand that medicine is not purely biomedical but includes significant psychosocial aspects. M23 Cinema aims to initiate transformative learning, shifting the focus from a strictly biomedical view to a more humanistic approach.

The M23 Cinema has existed for over eighteen years, is held several times a semester in German and regularly in English when international guests are present. Non-German language films are shown in the original with English subtitles whenever possible. The M23 Cinema was originally initiated by Professor Matthias Siebeck, who still serves as patron of the project, and is a joint project of the module 23 organisational team of the faculty and students as well as residents, sponsored by the Dean of Studies Office. The selection of films and topics is made by the student cinema committee.

The M23 Cinema was evaluated as part of a medical doctoral thesis:

Rueb M, Rehfuess EA, Siebeck M, Pfadenhauer LM. Cinemeducation: A mixed methods study on learning through reflective thinking, perspective taking and emotional narratives. Med Educ. 2023 Jul 31. doi: 10.1111/medu.15166. PMID: 37525520. PDF

Rueb M, Siebeck M, Rehfuess EA, Pfadenhauer LM. Cinemeducation in medicine: a mixed methods study on students' motivations and benefits. BMC Med Educ. 2022 Mar 12;22(1):172. doi: 10.1186/s12909-022-03240-x. PMID: 35279156. PDF