Grey’s Anatomy is arguably the most famous medical drama of all time. But is it any good?
This sounds like an easy question. A show with 22 seasons and 47.85 billion streams last year alone has to be great, right? However, Grey’s Anatomy has been criticized for prioritizing drama and romance over realistic depictions of a doctor’s life.
Melissa Burkhart Zesorson M.D., emergency medicine physician at Phoenixtown and Pottsville Hospital, agrees that it’s unrealistic. Specifically, she thinks the show glamorizes the ER.
“No one is hooking up in the ER like everybody does on [Grey’s Anatomy],” Burkhart said. “And also they save the day every time. Most cases that they present have very seriously injured patients. Unfortunately, in real life those patients would typically die despite doctors doing their best. They don’t always miraculously get better like in the show.”
Even viewers who aren’t medical professionals notice the inaccuracies of the show. Freshman Lucia Lam said she watches it more as a soap opera, excited to see what happens to the characters.
“There’s a lot of drama between the doctors, and there are people dating, which wouldn’t really happen, because [the ER] is a workplace,” Lam said.
Meanwhile, freshman Charlotte Garson watches Grey’s Anatomy almost as a whodunnit show, with the diseases, injuries, or disorders as suspects.
“I love trying to guess what the patients are diagnosed with,” Garson said. “There’s these really complex cases, and you, along with the doctors, are all kind of trying to find out what happened to the patient.”
However, there are plenty of medical TV shows out there that prioritize accuracy. Garson also mentioned that she was interested in watching “The Pitt” in the future, a medical drama that has received praise for staying true to how real life ERs are run.
“I think Pitt is really relevant and realistic,” Burkhart said. “I think it’s a little bit busier than most ERs, but I think that the problems they have are all like what’s happening in the ER right now.”
Burkhart shared that for her, watching The Pitt is an almost cathartic experience. The patients featured in the show are similar to the ones she sees in real life. For example, Burkhart saw a teenage girl overdose on fentanyl, and the show had featured a similar case.
“You don’t have time to dwell on it,” Burkhart said. “In the end, you have to go see the next patient, so it was therapeutic to see that enacted in the TV show. It’s good to see them taking on these issues and showing them to the public.“
It’s important to remember that Grey’s Anatomy is designed to be an entertaining TV show, not a full representation of a functioning hospital. This explains why it seems so glamorous, If it didn’t, it could lose its appeal to its audience.
“If [Grey’s Anatomy] does inspire some young, smart people to go to medicine, it’s all good with me, because we need more good, smart doctors,” Burkhart said. “Sometimes, the best thing I do all day is just give somebody a blanket. I’m not really doing anything in a medical sense. So, yeah, it’s not that glamorous.”
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