14 Medical Movies to Watch This Summer

Patch Adams is loosely based on the life of Dr. Hunter “Patch” Adams and his book Gesundheit: Good Health Is a Laughing Matter. The movie stars Robin Williams as Patch, who, as always, brings so much life to the story. After struggling with his mental health and spending some time in a psychiatric hospital, Adams decides he wants to become a doctor himself and use humor to bring more humanity to medical care. Eventually, he opens a free clinic for patients who don’t have insurance to cover the care they need.

In the movie, Adams makes the decision to enroll in medical school later in life.

Doc Hollywood is definitely the perfect film for all my romcom lovers. Starring Michael J. Fox as the lead character, the movie follows Dr. Benjamin Stone, a recent medical school graduate traveling across the country for a job interview in Beverly Hills. During his journey, he ends up accidentally taking out a fence in a small town while trying to avoid hitting a cow. As punishment, the local judge sentences him to complete 32 hours of community service in the medical clinic.

While completing his community service, Ben ends up growing closer and closer to the townsfolk, even hitting it off with an ambulance driver.

The Good Nurse is a thriller starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne. It is based on the true story of a serial killer named Charles Cullen who abused his position as a nurse to murder patients. Although Cullen confessed to 29 murders, experts estimate that the real total could be as high as 400.

Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story is a TV drama based on the autobiography of Ben Carson. He’s a neurosurgeon and politician. Starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as Dr. Carson, the film follows Dr. Carson’s journey as he goes from performing poorly in his elementary school classes to becoming a world-renowned neurosurgeon.

The film is heartwarming, inspirational, and a fascinating watch for pre-med and medical students. Not only do you get to watch the progression of Dr. Carson’s career, but you also learn about a number of difficult procedures he performed. This includes a hemispherectomy and an operation to separate a pair of conjoined twins.

Wit is another TV drama, but this time it’s based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Margaret Edson. The movie chronicles the story of an English professor who is diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic ovarian cancer. As she endures a variety of treatments, she begins to feel that the doctors looking after her are less interested in treating her. It seemed they’re more interested in testing experimental methods on her.

By focusing on the perspective of the main character Vivian, the film provides a very somber look at cancer treatments. It also shows their effects on the physical and emotional health of patients.

Concussion, starring Will Smith, is based on the exposé “Game Brain” written by Jeanne Marie Laskas. It follows Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian-American forensic pathologist who spoke out about the effects of brain degeneration caused by chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) on NFL players. The film tackles very real issues that are still present in professional football. Anyone interested in sports medicine or neurology should definitely give it a watch.

Something the Lord Made is another made-for-TV drama. It explores the partnership between prominent heart surgeons Vivien Thomas and Alfred Blalock. The two were pioneers in the field of cardiac surgery, developing a surgical solution for a congenital heart defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot and

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is based on the book of the same name by Rebecca Skloot which chronicles the story of Henrietta Lacks. Lacks, played in the film by Oprah Winfrey, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in the 1950s. Her cancer cells, which became known as “HeLa,” were collected without her consent. These were then cloned to be used for medical research into cancer, AIDS, vaccines, gene mapping, and more.

The God Committee is based on a play of the same name by Mark St. Germain. It tells the story of a committee that has one hour to decide between 3 patients in need of a heart transplant. Later in life, the committee members must contend with the decision they made.

The movie gets you thinking about the ethics behind transplant programs. It also shows the split-second decisions medical professionals often have to make.

Brain on Fire is based on the true story of Susannah Cahalan, a writer for the New York Post who suddenly began experiencing mysterious symptoms of mental illness. After being misdiagnosed several times, Cahalan eventually finds out that she is suffering from an extremely rare disease known as anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.

Awakenings has 2 superstar leads: Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams. The film is based on the memoir of Oliver Sacks, a neurologist who famously kept record of many unusual neurological case histories. You might have read one of his books at some point!

The movie itself tells the story of Dr. Malcolm Sayer (based on Oliver Sacks), who discovers that a drug called L-DOPA could help awaken catatonic patients who had survived an epidemic of encephalitis. It’s both a heartwarming and tragic story, so have your tissues ready just in case.

This one is definitely a classic! One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, starring Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, and Danny DeVito, is based on a novel by Ken Kesey and follows the story of Randle McMurphy. After being arrested, McMurphy feigns symptoms of mental illness so he can be transferred to a psychiatric ward, but he quickly finds out that the patients in the

Not to be confused with the ABC show of the same name, The Good Doctor is a thriller starring Orlando Bloom. It tells the story of a narcissistic doctor who, soon after starting his residency, begins intentionally keeping one of his patients sick so he can then treat her and continue to inflate his own ego.

Like The Good Nurse, the movie highlights the red flags that healthcare workers must speak up about when they notice coworkers behaving unethically.

Seven Pounds is another classic starring Will Smith in which an aeronautical engineer sets out to redeem himself by saving the lives of 7 worthy people. It’s best to go into this one without knowing too much of the plot. But trust me, you’re probably going to need some tissues by the end of it.