Allied Health Focus: Documentaries

Documentaries about Dental Care

Focus: Medical trauma, access barriers, anxiety, trans competence in dental settings

1. Gen Silent (2010)Elder LGBTQ+ people delay or avoid care—including dental—due to fear of discrimination.
2. Gender Revolution (2017)A broad overview of gender identity—useful for learning how to approach gender-affirming intake and communication in close-contact fields like dentistry.
3. Out (2020, Netflix Shorts)Animated short about coming out—ideal for sparking empathy and understanding patient trust in vulnerable settings.
4. Southern Comfort (2001) follows a trans man in rural Georgia—his community care circles include informal dental procedures due to lack of access.
5. The Stroll (2023). While not dental-specific, this doc about trans sex workers in NYC illustrates how stigma impacts all aspects of health access—including oral health.

Documentaries about EMSI

Focus: Inclusive curriculum development, trauma-informed emergency care, triage bias, ethical field training, and LGBTQIA+ advocacy in crisis settings

Top 5 Documentaries for EMSI Professionals

1. Welcome to Chechnya (2020)
   • Why it matters for EMSI: Shows how emergency evacuation, covert medical care, and allyship are essential in extreme LGBTQ-targeted crisis zones. Sparks discussion about safety protocols, confidentiality, and international human rights.
2. The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)
   • Why it matters for EMSI: Frames issues of medical neglect, misgendering at death, and bias in first response. Excellent for case-based instruction on scene respect, pronouns, and historical trauma in LGBTQIA+ communities.
3. 5B (2018)
   • Why it matters for EMSI: Highlights the radical empathy of nurses and EMTs during the early AIDS epidemic. Demonstrates how first responders and instructors can lead policy and culture shifts around compassionate emergency care.
4. Trans Dudes with Lady Cancer (2017)
   • Why it matters for EMSI: Though focused on oncology, this short film makes visible how invasive procedures and misgendering during triage or ER intake can lead to physical and psychological harm. Great for discussing rapid intake protocols and trauma-informed language.
5. Unmasked: The Pandemic and the LGBTQ+ Community (2021)
   • Why it matters for EMSI: COVID exposed disparities in triage, ventilation, and care access. This documentary provides a lens to revise EMS training in pandemic preparedness, ethical triage, and the invisibility of LGBTQ+ patients during crisis.

Documentaries about Massage Therapy

Focus: Body boundaries, trauma-informed touch, consent, dysphoria

1. Touch Me Not (2018)Experimental and intimate—explores how people of all genders and bodies navigate touch, boundaries, and healing.
2. Disclosure (2020)A vital primer for massage therapists to understand the cultural representations that shape how trans clients are treated—even before the first touch.
3. Real Boy (2016)Trans youth healing from addiction and trauma—useful for massage therapists offering somatic support.
4. Major! (2015)Trans elder Miss Major discusses bodily autonomy, trauma, and community—critical context for ethical, identity-respecting practice.
5. Rebel Hearts (2021)About nuns challenging the patriarchy, but excellent for understanding the radical power of bodily integrity and affirmation through care work.

Documentaries about Medical Assisting

Focus: Front-line patient interaction, charting, trauma-informed care, misgendering

1. Disclosure (2020)Great for understanding how systemic misrepresentation leads to real-world misgendering and harm at check-in and exam.
2. Transvisible: Bamby Salcedo’s Story (2013)A trans Latina advocate’s journey—underscores the role of front-line staff in affirming or denying care.
3. Intersexion (2012)Interviews intersex people about lifelong medicalization and the front-line role of assistants in affirming or pathologizing identities.
4. Diagnosing Difference (2009)Offers a lens on how diagnoses and paperwork can reinforce or resist binary assumptions in care.
5. TGI Justice Project: Healthcare is a Human Right (2018)Short doc about incarcerated trans women and the role of medical professionals—assistants often handle charting and scheduling essential affirming services.

Documentaries about Nursing

Focus: Bedside care, affirming charting, trauma-informed practice, systemic health disparities, ethics, and clinical leadership

Top 5 Documentaries for Nursing Students and Educators

1. 5B (2018)
   • Why it matters for nursing: Chronicles the first AIDS ward in the U.S., led by nurses who redefined compassionate care amid stigma and fear. A masterclass in ethical risk-taking, bedside innovation, and LGBTQ+ advocacy in clinical care.
2. Gen Silent (2010)
   • Why it matters for nursing: Highlights the fear LGBTQ+ elders feel in disclosing identity to caregivers. Nurses play a central role in either reinforcing or reducing this fear—especially in long-term care and hospice settings.
3. Born to Be (2019)
   • Why it matters for nursing: Follows patients at a gender-affirming surgery center. Nurses are central to pre-op and post-op education, wound care, and trust-building—especially when clients have experienced prior harm.
4. Cured (2020)
   • Why it matters for nursing: Nurses must understand the legacy of pathologizing LGBTQ+ identities. This film shows the battle to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness—important context for understanding patient mistrust and validating lived experience.
5. Disclosure (2020)
   • Why it matters for nursing: Unpacks media representations of trans people. Vital for nursing students learning how unconscious bias—often shaped by media—affects how they perceive and treat trans patients, especially in fast-paced clinical environments.

Documentaries about Respiratory Care

Focus: Chronic illness, access, gender-affirming care, respiratory distress, long COVID

1. Born to Be (2019)Centers Dr. Jess Ting’s gender-affirming surgical practice—many clients also manage respiratory complications from hormones or surgery.
2. Trans Dudes with Lady Cancer (2017)Explores trans men navigating cancer care—highlighting the emotional and physical toll of misgendering in respiratory and anesthetic care settings.
3. Every Body (2023)Focus on intersex people—includes surgical and bodily autonomy issues directly relevant to airway management and consent.
4. 5B (2018)About the first AIDS ward in the U.S.—many patients experienced respiratory failure due to pneumonia, illuminating compassionate critical care models.
5. Unmasked: The Pandemic and the LGBTQ+ Community (2021)COVID-19’s impact on LGBTQ+ people, including ventilator access, bias in triage, and long COVID.