1. Contagion – this is one of the more recent films in the medical genre and it deals with a terrifying topic; pandemics. Starring Jude Law (one of my personal faves) and a plethora of other celebrities including Kate Winslet and Gwen Paltrow, Outbreak explores how infectious diseases can spread across the world in almost no time at all. 2. The Cider House Rules – a classic, definitely one of my favorite movies and in my opinion, one of Michael Caine’s best. Set in rural Maine, this film portrays the realities of life for a small town doctor and orphanage director and the children he cares for. Tobey McGuire plays a compassionate boy abandoned at birth who trains to be a doctor under Caine’s tutelage. 3. Girl, Interrupted – one of the first mainstream films about life inside a psychiatric facility. This film follows Winona Ryder as she navigates life after a mental breakdown and subsequent stay at a mental hospital. Amazing performances by Angelina Jolie and Whoopi Goldberg make this film especially memorable, emotional and touching. 4. The Painted Veil – I guess I’m a hopeless romantic but I absolutely love this movie. The cinematography is breathtaking and the soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful. Edward Norton is a young British doctor who specializes in infectious disease. Stuck in an unhappy marriage, Norton decides moves his new wife to a small village in China where cholera has broken out. 5. And The Band Played On – centered on the discovery and proliferation of AIDS and the difficulties faced by the scientific community as they raced to find the origins and curb the epidemic. I watched this in high school and will never forget the opening scene depicting the tragedy of an unchecked ebola outbreak. Source
