Purpose: Professionalism and Communication were formally introduced in India's Competency based Curriculum (CBC) as part of the five roles of an Indian Medical Graduate and ten core competencies in the Bachelor of Science Nursing program. It may be challenging to teach the complexity of clinical medical ethics to undergraduate students at a young age in the absence of direct patient interaction. Trigger films (TFs) are brief (3-10-minute) clips that have been used in the West to provoke debate, promote reflection, and assist trainees in dealing with ethical dilemmas. The aim of this study was to determine if TFs can be used to teach professionalism and ethics to undergraduate medical and nursing students as an innovative and interesting tool. And, to see if it results in any changes in knowledge. Methods: A 2-hour module supported by an introductory PowerPoint presentation and using four TFs on the four pillars of ethics (beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, and justice) was developed and piloted in the foundation course for the new cohort of medical and nursing students. Quantitative, open-ended feedback was taken from learners after module delivery and knowledge was assessed using a retrospective pre-post questionnaire. Results: The majority of students found TFs an innovative and interesting tool to teach medical ethics. There was a gain in the knowledge of autonomy (52%), beneficence (48%), non-maleficence (46%) and justice (38%). Conclusion: TFs can be effective tools to impart core competencies in ethics and professionalism to both nursing and medical students in the new CBC.