Objective:

To assess the use of commercial film "Contagion" as a strategy for teaching the epidemiological method applied to the field of epidemics/pandemics.

Materials and methods:

This is a classroom project that involved various emerging and communication technologies in order to have attractive and pedagogical tools that encourage meaningful learning to address complex issues. The pedagogical action involved several inputs: Initially, the characterization of an "ah doc." questionnaire was presented, which evaluated beliefs and perceptions in the face of an epidemic/pandemic and how local and international health entities, scientists, the community and the use of film in the learning scenario made them visible, with 131 students participating.

Results:

In summary, students identified that this type of film shows a reality "in agreement and total agreement in 70.2 %, favors protective behavior in 80.2 % and 78.6 % modify their knowledge with respect to health protection. This positions that it favors a learning in the classroom and for 42 % it expresses in an indifferent way a stereotype very far from the scientists. With this initial input, the introductory session was held to address critical points in the epidemiological methodology in the face of an epidemic/pandemic, which made it possible to illustrate the epidemiological action versus the real or simulated context by highlighting actions involving human acts.

Conclusions:

Students expressed a positive attitude towards the strategy used in the classroom, which constitutes a relevant, active, critical and effective input for classroom learning.

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