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For a nation that works as
hard as we do, spending 40 hours a week toiling in our respective
cubicles, taxi cabs and warehouses, it's a wonder we spend so much time
watching TV shows about people working. Whether it's an office comedy, a
courtroom drama or a police procedural, Americans love to see people on
the job. And nothing says "thankless stress" like the good old-fashioned
doctor show. Today, the doctor show is more popular than
ever, with
series such as "Grey's Anatomy" topping the prime-time ratings. And
what
viewers don't like
biting their nails during a daring surgery? Who doesn't enjoy a good
argument between two rival
physicians over whether to pull the plug?
If you're still new to the
doctor show and all things hospital, here's a simple,
straightforward guide to
the world of televised caregiving. If there's a scalpel onscreen,
refer to these helpful
hints for the medically malnourished. |
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Always Expect a Second Opinion
Early on in
every doctor show, a physician will give a patient a diagnosis --
but don't trust it to save his or her life. "House" is like a
mystery-thriller for the health-care profession; you start with one
theory, and then House gradually works toward another, all the while
snipping red tape and risking lives in his manic quest to redeem the
Hippocratic oath. Yes, it looks like that patient is writhing around
from heart palpitations, but don't be surprised if it ends up being
some kind of obscure neurological seizure that only the most
roguish, bureaucracy-battling doctor can
treat. | |
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"Sex to the ER, Sex to the ER,
Please"
Tongue-in-cheek shows such as "Green Wing" and
"Scrubs" are basically high-budget soap
operas, and whereas the surgical team still gets tangled up in
doctoral dilemmas, it's just as likely to get tangled up in each
other. The 1990s were a decade ruled by sexpot George Clooney, but now
that he's migrated to Academy Award-land, he's been replaced by the
lusty antics of Zach Braff and his
self-absorbed colleagues. Don't find brain surgery sexy? TV doctors
disagree. The high-tension confines of a busy ER have always been
the perfect setting for relationship melodrama -- ever since the
days of "General Hospital" and "Dr. Kildare" (yoy, that Richard Chamberlain got
around). And as the seasons go by, partners trade off with
astounding regularity. Now that's what we call rotations.
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Never Trust the
Patient
TV doctors can be flippant, aggressive and
egotistical -- just like real doctors -- but the most suspicious
character in the hospital is a patient going under the knife.
Patients get caught lying about all kinds of things, from latent
drug abuse to hidden pregnancy to drinking a glass of wine when the
doctor specifically advised against it. This gets patients into
nasty trouble, such as complicating an already daring operation or
getting passed for a heart transplant. So, the patient quit smoking
four months ago? The patient doesn't pop pills? The patient is fully
insured? Don't believe it for a second. | |
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Don't Watch a Doctor Show with an
Actual Doctor
No matter how meticulous the research, no
matter how convincing the jargon, doctor shows are not real life --
and your cardiologist friend will be the first to say so. Sure, you
may hear about a condition such as Korsakov's syndrome or Munchausen
disorder by proxy, and you'll feel like you learned something new,
but the second you see physicians swarm into the operating room,
your expert friend starts giving you an earful of complaint: "That's
not at all how to use a defibrillator," or "Asthmatics don't wheeze
like that." The only thing more obnoxious is watching a courtroom
drama with an actual lawyer. | |
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