I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV

Few people anticipate a visit to the doctor’s office (and even fewer, still, to a hospital)…. Few people anticipate a visit to the doctor’s office (and even fewer, still, to a hospital). Yet millions tune in each year to watch actors in those dreaded locations. No, it’s not schadenfreude, it’s prime-time television, and it’s a staple of pop culture, albeit with a sometimes tenuous connection to real-life medical work.

The American fascination with medical drama (and comedy) is not a nascent phenomenon. In 1961, as television networks broadened their horizons, “Dr. Kildare” (originally a series of theatrical films) and “Ben Casey” introduced audiences to life, or at least their representations of it, in the medical profession.

“Marcus Welby, M.D.” debuted in 1969 and ran through 1976. In its second season it was the most-watched show, as measured by Nielsen Media Research.

The 1970s brought “Emergency!” and, more significantly, “M*A*S*H” (whose final episode remains the most watched in television history). And, “St. Elsewhere” was nominated for the Best Drama Emmy during each of its six years on NBC in the 1980s. “ER” topped the ratings list for three years during the 1990s, and it remains entrenched in the NBC lineup.

“American Idol” is the current ratings supreme, but television still takes its medicine. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” has been in the top 10 during each of its three years, and “House, M.D.” was No. 7 last season. “Scrubs,” entering its seventh season, isn’t quite as popular. Meanwhile, medical drama fans can catch the new series “Private Practice,” a spin-off of “Grey’s Anatomy,” on ABC. What happens to the title when national health care reaches America?

Most medical shows strive for a level of realism – the desire for drama, however, sometimes overwhelms veritas. A few years ago, “ER” knocked off a character by way of a falling, flaming helicopter. “House” runs exhaustive batteries of tests that would be cost prohibited in most hospitals. “Scrubs” interjects the routine with absurdist elements to keep things light.

While Dr. Elizabeth Wettick, medical director of Pitt’s student health services, is a fan of “Grey’s Anatomy” (and formerly of “ER”), she’s not sure if they’re a positive influence for med students, noting, “They make it look too sexy and exciting, when a lot of it is humdrum.”

In med school, she notes, she and her fellow students used to muse that, “they’d never have a show called ‘Nursing Home.'”

And although disease-of-the-week shows are popular, Wettick finds that more students glean their information online, through sites like Webmd.com.

“It opens up a dialogue,” she said, calling the site “a nice starting point,” for when people come in describing symptoms. Once, when she was trying to diagnose an unusual rash, the sick student mused that he felt like he was on “House.”

“ER” depicts understaffed hospitals leaving med students and residents in positions to make complex decisions with little oversight. Wettick points out that, at least in America, that is disconnected from reality. The way the doctors socialize, however, she finds to be more realistic.

“You will socialize in the midst of doing things, like suturing a patient,” she said. “Your social life becomes the hospital.”

The interaction among staff members is also what appeals to Max Greenwald, a politics and philosophy major and a fan of “Scrubs” and “House.”

“It’s the situations they’re put in, balancing their professional and personal lives and how they come together,” Greenwald said. “It makes for good television.”

Not all students, even med students, are fans of medical drama, though.

“I don’t really watch the medical TV shows that are drama filled, like ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ or ‘Scrubs,’ but I do watch real-life medical shows like ‘Mystery Diagnosis’ and ‘Untold Stories of the ER,'” said Natasha Hoyte, vice president of the Pre-Medical Organization for Minority Students at Pitt.

Minorities haven’t always received fair representation in medical shows. In the ’60s, Afro-Latino actor Percy Rodriguez attracted a great deal of attention for his role as a doctor on the TV show, “Peyton Place.”

Today, black people are more widely represented in the media as medical professionals. Mekhi Phifer has been a regular cast member on “ER” since 2002, Omar Epps plays Dr. Eric Foreman on “House” (he also appeared on “ER” in the 1996 season), and Isaiah Washington was a regular on “Grey’s Anatomy” until personal controversy forced him off the show.

A 2001-2002 study by the American Medical Association found that Asians represent 12.6 percent of physicians. Until recently, however, Asian actors were underrepresented on screen. “ER” featured actress Ming Na, although her role wasn’t central to the series, and “Grey’s Anatomy,” meanwhile, features Sandra Oh.

The representation doesn’t always translate to workplace recognition.

“People assume that doctors are white men,” Wettick said. When she was in medical school, some people assumed that because she was a woman, she was a nurse. Minority medical students, they thought, must be orderlies.

Wettick hopes the increase in representation of minorities in medical dramas will result in an increase in the minority students attending medical schools.

“It’s a real problem when you have an absence of minorities, with different perceptions and backgrounds,” Wettick said.

So, are you interested in a career in medicine? If so, you’ll want to talk with doctors from a variety of fields.

“It’s good to speak with physicians who are practicing. Be realistic about how much of a financial burden you’re willing to take on to do it,” Wettick said.

She warned that some med school graduates become resentful when they graduate mired in debt and find their salaries to be lower than expected.

Also, don’t believe everything you see on television. Wettick assured that no colleague has ever been struck by a falling, flaming helicopter.