The most realistic show

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
W

waterplove

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2007
Messages
27
Reaction score
0
Medical dramas on TV are medical dramas. They are there to hook you, not to paint an accurate picture. Even so, I'm curious to hear, which show out there do you think depicts a doctor's/doctor-in-training's life the most accurately? Grey's anatomy, house, scrubs, er, etc...
oh, and also, which show is your favorite one?
Members don't see this ad.
 
Aside from the slapstick aspect, I really feel that scrubs is the most realistic. It discusses issues and conflicts that are extremely prevalent with everyone, but those in the medical fields in particular. They talk about the loss of a personal life, debt, the first patient you lose, relationships, and everything else....most of the other shows (Grey's in particular) are just kind of drama/entertainment in a hospital setting. They don't set out to have a morale...they just kind of throw a voice over at the end that is extremely generic. Now, I'm not saying that is bad t.v., but I feel that out of the shows currently on, scrubs discusses issues most pertinent to the health field in general. It is kind of stubborn to say just doctors, considering scrubs shows how many nurses go under appreciated as well. It is my favorite show though, so I may be bias. ;)
 
I think Scrubs displays a resident's life more accurately than Grey's Anatomy.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
cbass1350 said:
I think Scrubs displays a resident's life more accurately than Grey's Anatomy.
Click to expand...

Oh, that's unfortunate. I was so looking forward to sleeping with a hot neurosurg attending as an intern. :mad: :p
 
SCRUBS! In any event, I hope my medical school and residency experience will be filled with just as many sexual exploits as all these shows say it is, I mean come on lots of $$$$$ and tons of smart, sexy women who all want 1 week stands? What could be better?!? ;)
 
I would say Grey's Anatomy is the LEAST realistic of medical dramas---and even I knew as a first year. The outfits, the high heels, the amount of freetime available to surgical residents in what is one of the most competitive surgical residencies in the country?! Yeah, right!
 
while all you compare which one, i find an amalgamation of all three to portray my future quite accurately

scrubs - full of cheap laughs, great lessons, and happy end-of-the-days
grey's anatomy - lots of hot sex with hot interns/attendings etc. with more girl interns than guys.
house - can get away with sweet diagnoses without ever meeting annoying patients, and can be an ass whenever i want
ER - don't really watch it.

basically, i'll have JD's humor, mcsteamy's luck with women, turk's dance-moves, house/cox's attitude, and plenty of girls all over me like izzy, meredith, and the ethicist on house (she's so boring i cant even remember her name)

i will be pissed if i get anything less; who says medicine aint the sweetest profession in the world
 
Early seasons of ER had some fantastic medicine in it.
 
Another vote for Scrubs - for reasons already listed.
 
naegleria brain said:
scrubs - full of cheap laughs, great lessons, and happy end-of-the-days
grey's anatomy - lots of hot sex with hot interns/attendings etc. with more girl interns than guys.
Click to expand...

While I like scrubs and it's popular to call it realistic, it isn't. It's a spoof of hospital life, not an accurate portrayal. It puffs up stereotypes to the extreme, and gives huge roles to a custodian and other hospital personnel a typical resident will never know by name or face. It's a great show (or used to be), but you aren't going to be living that life. The only thing it somewhat captures is the kind of berating/abuse you might expect from your superiors, but other shows have done this better.

If you are actually looking for realism in fiction, you probably need to look at bits and pieces of a variety of shows, as there is nothing particularly accurate out there that isn't on the discovery channel. The dynamic between Carter and Benton in the first season of ER was pretty good (until that show jumped the shark, years ago). The first season of St. Elsewhere had its moments as well, if you can get ahold of it.

Greys unfortunately wins as the least accurate medical show, IMHO. (Except for all the sex and residents coming back from the dead, of course).
 
Law2Doc said:
While I like scrubs and it's popular to call it realistic, it isn't.
Click to expand...

Scrubs is more accurately described as having kernels of realism (which is more than Grey's or House can claim).
 
Gut Shot said:
Scrubs is more accurately described as having kernels of realism (which is more than Grey's or House can claim).
Click to expand...

I guess, although they are very small kernels compared to the unrealistic portions of the show. Real life is not cartoonish, and the janitors dont f*&* with the residents at most hospitals.:) It's harder to get past these absurdities than it is to buy into the more subtle inaccuracies of the other shows. So I continue to assert -- fun show, but not realistic.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
ER is realistic in a sense. But, of course, they have much more excitement in one hour of show then typical ER docs see during their entire shift. There's a lot more chest pain, stroke symptoms, and overall geriatric medicine; at least at the ER I work at. I think Scrubs is very good: some interesting medicine, not everything is an "amazing" case, and they are confronted with normal ethical difficulties. Every week on Grey's their surgeries are some once-in-a-lifetime deal. Cases that PGY1-3's probably wouldn't even be scrubbing in on. That said, I watch consistently. :thumbup: . I really have yet to find a medical show that I don't enjoy.
 
Boston Legal is the most accurate show on TV.

DENNY CRANE!
 
vök;5000065 said:
Early seasons of ER had some fantastic medicine in it.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: Trudat.

My only issue with the show is the shear amount of people circulating through and around the ED. Seems like it would be a security issue.

Then again, they have had a gas cylinder fly through, a gang member come in to finish off a rival, an aircraft fall out of the sky, a tank roll down the street outside, and Dr. Green did get his ass kicked in the bathroom.

Secruity issue? They need the national guard to protect that place.

I'm in love with Neela nonetheless. :love:
 
Law2Doc said:
So I continue to assert -- fun show, but not realistic.
Click to expand...

I think you're continuing to confuse "realistic" with "most realistic." The only reason Scrubs takes the gold is that it's a pretty sad competition.
 
Gut Shot said:
I think you're continuing to confuse "realistic" with "most realistic." The only reason Scrubs takes the gold is that it's a pretty sad competition.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

The reason the janitor gets so much face time is because it is quite funny to think that he would actually have that attitude. Sure, we would never know their name in real life. Guess what- neither does JD. The humor lies in the richness of a character that is largely ignored in the real world.

If any of these shows were truly realistic, they'd be boring as hell...

"You get that Chemistry panel? Tell the nurse to draw it again!!" :sleep:
 
Dr. 90210 is by far the most accurate. Every physician I know lifts weights in sleeveless scrubs while interviewing patients. It doesn't get anymore real than that!

No really, I have to go with scrubs. Big fan.
 
"Mystery Diagnose" on Discovery Channel:thumbup:
 
Gut Shot said:
I think you're continuing to confuse "realistic" with "most realistic." The only reason Scrubs takes the gold is that it's a pretty sad competition.
Click to expand...

I agree we are arguing about which part of a very shallow pool is the deepest. However I still find less deepness in scrubs than some of the others. :)
 
I'll have to add a vote for "Cops" as the most realistic show.
 
chable said:
I'll have to add a vote for "Cops" as the most realistic show.
Click to expand...

Yep, I think we've all had cops show up at our trailer while we were watering the driveway with a garden hose in boxer shorts, no shirt, and mismatched slippers.
 
'Cops' would be even more realistic if they included the parts where 4 officers beat one guy into a pulp. After working in the trauma bay for two months, I've seen at least 5 cases of excessive force by the police.

This includes the inmate who 'fell' in his cell, had 4 separate skull fractures, 2 epidural hematomas, and two black eyes as well as a 16 year old girl the size of Ally Mcbeal who was kicked and bashed with batons for 'resisting arrest' (you know how dangerous those 105 lbs teenage girls can be). Most of the markings was on her left side below the axilla. Basically she was trying to protect her head with her arms while the two brave cops took turns breaking her ribs. She was hospitalized because one of the broken ribs tore her spleen wide open.

Didn't mean to steal the thread or anything. Back to TV land.
 
The thing I hate more than anything about medical dramas is usually the personal relationships between docs and nurses and staff. If you watch Grey's, everyone is sleeping with someone else in the room at all times...it's complete crap. ER wasn't like that in the beginning, but eventually fell into that crap too. My pet peeve.
 
cbass1350 said:
'Cops' would be even more realistic if they included the parts where 4 officers beat one guy into a pulp. After working in the trauma bay for two months, I've seen at least 5 cases of excessive force by the police.

This includes the inmate who 'fell' in his cell, had 4 separate skull fractures, 2 epidural hematomas, and two black eyes as well as a 16 year old girl the size of Ally Mcbeal who was kicked and bashed with batons for 'resisting arrest' (you know how dangerous those 105 lbs teenage girls can be). Most of the markings was on her left side below the axilla. Basically she was trying to protect her head with her arms while the two brave cops took turns breaking her ribs. She was hospitalized because one of the broken ribs tore her spleen wide open.

Didn't mean to steal the thread or anything. Back to TV land.
Click to expand...

Real talk man :eek:
 
I started watching re-runs of Grey's Anatomy a couple weeks ago at the section that everyone is picking a fellowship. Kind of annoying that they don't seem to know what fellowships match with a gen surg residency.
 
Mavs88 said:
The thing I hate more than anything about medical dramas is usually the personal relationships between docs and nurses and staff. If you watch Grey's, everyone is sleeping with someone else in the room at all times...it's complete crap. ER wasn't like that in the beginning, but eventually fell into that crap too. My pet peeve.
Click to expand...

Agreed with the bold. The first couple of seasons of ER were pretty accurate as to what happens in the ER, especially while Noah Whyle's character was in med school.
 
I would never watch a medical show if it were realistic.

Neither would anyone else.

Ever heard of the series, "Doctors" that was on PBS?..
 
g8orlife said:
Agreed with the bold. The first couple of seasons of ER were pretty accurate as to what happens in the ER, especially while Noah Whyle's character was in med school.
Click to expand...

Yeah, some of my favorite television. Great story lines and relationships without going over the top.

I'm mid season 15 of ER and it's just brutal to watch. I feel a part of my soul being destroyed everytime :laugh: I'm just one of those people that has to finish the show.
 
tco said:
I would never watch a medical show if it were realistic.

Neither would anyone else.

Ever heard of the series, "Doctors" that was on PBS?..
Click to expand...

Doctor Diaries. You can see both 1 hour episodes on YouTube.
 
g8orlife said:
Agreed with the bold. The first couple of seasons of ER were pretty accurate as to what happens in the ER, especially while Noah Whyle's character was in med school.
Click to expand...

The 1st 2 seasons were definitely the best.

Most realistic TV show = Emergency!

(esp for anyone interested in EM, the show was filmed at Harbor-UCLA medical center)
 
Trauma: Life in the ER. It's just a documentary crew following around ER docs and occasionally some of the consulting physicians. I'm sure they focus on the more intense moments but still worth a watch.
 
loltopsy said:
Trauma: Life in the ER. It's just a documentary crew following around ER docs and occasionally some of the consulting physicians. I'm sure they focus on the more intense moments but still worth a watch.
Click to expand...

Yessss!
 
its scrubs. but if you want something that you may be able to relate to mroe, look up hopkins, boston med, and this one other 2 part documentary about harvard graduated MD's ( i forgot what it was called maybe someone else here will be able to help out)

edit: if you look up an al jazeera series called Indian hospital, its also an incredible show using a patient oriented focus and the difficulties of practice in India.
 
Little Soldier said:
its scrubs. but if you want something that you may be able to relate to mroe, look up hopkins, boston med, and this one other 2 part documentary about harvard graduated MD's ( i forgot what it was called maybe someone else here will be able to help out)

edit: if you look up an al jazeera series called Indian hospital, its also an incredible show using a patient oriented focus and the difficulties of practice in India.
Click to expand...

Boston med is great =)
And the series is on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiJ9pLWpjuY
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

P
Realistic Residency Options?
Replies
4
Views
1K
Putkernerinthehall
P
P
Which specialties have the most global health opportunities?
Replies
19
Views
2K
mvenus929
mvenus929
S
Need to be told whats realistic as a psych applicant
Replies
1
Views
688
SurfingDoctor
SurfingDoctor
L
Which specialty has the most self-learning?
Replies
7
Views
1K
dieABRdie
D
D
Which departments bring in the most money for academic medical centers?
Replies
45
Views
3K
Schwifty
Schwifty
Top