Does anyone think it is possible to be as good as House?

[deleted202457]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Anyone think it is possible to be as diagnostically brilliant as Dr. House?

 

[funkydrmonkey]

HE'S NOT REAL!

that should answer it.

Btw, I love the show.

 

[mrs.smith]

Exactly. Does anyone think he's real? Funny.

 

[Tizoc]

Anyone think it is possible to be as diagnostically brilliant as Dr. House?

You should rephrase this as: "Anyone think it is possible to be as brilliant an actor as Hugh Laurie?"

 

[WellWornLad]

He doesn't strike me as that brilliant. He spends half of the episode killing the patient and the other half saving them.

The "cases" presented in the show are exaggerated examples of medical anomalies and/or coincidences that might occur once in the career of your average physician. Even if one was "diagnostically brilliant" (whatever that means), it would be hard to establish such a reputation when difficult cases are so few and usually managed by a team of specialists. Modern medicine is so specialized that no one is an expert on everything, which apparently is what House is supposed to be. So no.

 

[Kaustikos]

He doesn't strike me as that brilliant. He spends half of the episode killing the patient and the other half saving them.

The "cases" presented in the show are exaggerated examples of medical anomalies and/or coincidences that might occur once in the career of your average physician. Even if one was "diagnostically brilliant" (whatever that means), it would be hard to establish such a reputation when difficult cases are so few and usually managed by a team of specialists. Modern medicine is so specialized that no one is an expert on everything, which apparently is what House is supposed to be. So no.

Half saving? More like 10 seconds.
I just enjoy the dialogue between him and Wilson. That and it's the only show that actually has any science on cable. (Not including myth busters - best show ever)

 

[Quix]

If I were able to write my own dialogue and plot, having the story arc conform to my already established "disease of the week", sure, I could do it, too.

House isn't real medicine.

 

[Caesar]

If I were able to write my own dialogue and plot, having the story arc conform to my already established "disease of the week", sure, I could do it, too.

House isn't real medicine.

but Dr. Cox on the other hand...😉

 

[Quix]

but Dr. Cox on the other hand...😉

Is God. Or Jebus. Or the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Pick your deity of choice and add springy hair.

 

[Phillykid162]

--

 

[Gut Shot]

Anyone think it is possible to be as diagnostically brilliant as Dr. House?

Great character drama, and I've love Hugh Laurie since his days role on Black Adder. That said, revist House after M3 year... their brilliant sounding discussions of differential diagnoses will make you squirm in your seat.

 

[anomalous738232]

YES. I will be.

and House is not just some guy acting, he's real!!

 

[XerxesOfPersia]

I think it's rather funny that House got kicked out of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine for cheating and, naturally, ended up graduating from the University of Michigan Medical School. Even though nobody seems to give my Wolverines a break, I really think that's why he's the best 😉

 

[cpants]

Great character drama, and I've love Hugh Laurie since his days role on Black Adder. That said, revist House after M3 year... their brilliant sounding discussions of differential diagnoses will make you squirm in your seat.

I agree. It's entertaining, but even as an M1 I roll my eyes at some of the stuff that goes on in that show.

 

[nevercold]

Great character drama, and I've love Hugh Laurie since his days role on Black Adder. That said, revist House after M3 year... their brilliant sounding discussions of differential diagnoses will make you squirm in your seat.

Agreed, if you are not a better doctor than House, you certainly ought to get your money back from your medical school and hand in your medical license.

Please note: There was an episode in which a patient died from staph aureus septicemia from a sore on the back b/c they were too incompetent to do a complete physical exam. That alone should strike you as a shocking dereliction of duty on the part of the physicians.

 

[iduwanna]

Agreed, if you are not a better doctor than House, you certainly ought to get your money back from your medical school and hand in your medical license.

Please note: There was an episode in which a patient died from staph aureus septicemia from a sore on the back b/c they were too incompetent to do a complete physical exam. That alone should strike you as a shocking dereliction of duty on the part of the physicians.

What a buzz-kill you are.

Here, pop some vicodin.

 

[Margaux1985]

Haven't you ever seen this?

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcQsD0HU0SY[/YOUTUBE]


That in short summarizes what I think of House

 

[chad5871]

Haven't you ever seen this?
That in short summarizes what I think of House

MadTV for the win. That was so great - and Michael McDonald does look a lot like Hugh Laurie!

 

[phoenix0610]

Great character drama, and I've love Hugh Laurie since his days role on Black Adder. That said, revist House after M3 year... their brilliant sounding discussions of differential diagnoses will make you squirm in your seat.

soooo sooo true lol--I'm like can I get a H&P please??? They are acutually quite horrible doctors when you think about it--they don't talk to the patient and just test until they get something right.

 

[Bacchus]

I'd take Cutty or 13 anyday over House.

 

[Ginzo]

House is just a modern reworking of Sherlock Holmes using a medical backdrop instead of crime investigation. British actors in general are far superior to American ones (who often get hired for looks alone) and Hugh Laurie is no exception to this. House is worth it just to see Hugh's performance of the damaged but brilliant and entertaining Greg House.

That being said, the show does get formulaic and the subplots that they use to try to tie the episodes together, like the Vogler story arc in season 1 and the Tritter story in season 3, are often horribly conceived and quickly become a chore. The Vogler character was especially flat and horrible. How many times did they force the viewer to sit through Vogler giving the same trite speech, "This is *a business*. And I'm going to run is like *a business*. It's *a business*." Ugh.

For a pure mystery show, I recommend Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes. Brett was another immensely talented British actor and his Holmes is likely the best we'll ever get.

 

[deleted202457]

i know he is not real. I just wondered if it was actually possible to be able to recall the off the wall medical knowledge off the top of your head that he does. I know he is a crappy doctor but I wondered if doctors actually are able to diagnose those diseases that occur once every thirty years or whatever.

 

[LikeClockWork]

Could you ever be as good as House? Yes.

Could you ever be half as good as Dr. Cox? Never.

'nuff said.

 

[pslee]

i love watching HOUSE MD but here is a little unreasonable things I see in the drama. Kutner doing EMG test on season 4, Chase monitoring and hooking up ECMO on Amber on the last episode, etc. Each and every doctor have his own specialties. They do not do everything that is going on in the hospital. Hooking up ECMO is for cardiologist or cardiothoracic, EMG nerve test is for pain management or neurologist doctors, and etc. In order to be specialized in one fields requires few years of fellowship and residency and Chase running around doing this and that is just not possible in real life.

 

[smq123]

Anyone think it is possible to be as diagnostically brilliant as Dr. House?

Uh...anyone who has passed Step 1 is as diagnostically brilliant as House.

Because, sweet Jeebus, "Dr." House is a friggin' *****. The fellows that he has working with him are even stupider.

I just wondered if it was actually possible to be able to recall the off the wall medical knowledge off the top of your head that he does. I know he is a crappy doctor but I wondered if doctors actually are able to diagnose those diseases that occur once every thirty years or whatever.

Is it possible? Not really - it takes a lot of research to dig up some of these diagnoses. You still need to go back and read Harrison's every now and then, even as an attending.

The problem isn't that House can't remember the more esoteric diseases. The problem is that he (and his fellows) seem incapable of remembering the basic fundamental details that even med students ought to know.

 

[Depakote]

Uh...anyone who has passed Step 1 is as diagnostically brilliant as House.

Because, sweet Jeebus, "Dr." House is a friggin' *****. The fellows that he has working with him are even stupider.



Is it possible? Not really - it takes a lot of research to dig up some of these diagnoses. You still need to go back and read Harrison's every now and then, even as an attending.

The problem isn't that House can't remember the more esoteric diseases. The problem is that he (and his fellows) seem incapable of remembering the basic fundamental details that even med students ought to know.

like how to take a proper history.

 

[shiftingmirage]

how do you know about his college days? Is it told in the show?

I believe its in season 1 where he invites Von Weeberman (sp?) do give a speil and Wilson asks this is the guy that got you thrown out of JHU for cheating? Then, don't remember what season, Cameron and Cuddy are searching a house together and Cameron asks Cuddy "so...you went to Michigan together"...or something like that. That episode may have been when the dude fell off Cuddys roof. So you kinda put the pieces together.

 

[Law2Doc]

i know he is not real. I just wondered if it was actually possible to be able to recall the off the wall medical knowledge off the top of your head that he does. I know he is a crappy doctor but I wondered if doctors actually are able to diagnose those diseases that occur once every thirty years or whatever.

Actually, there's an old adage in medicine that when you hear hoofbeats you are supposed to think horses, not zebras. House is all about the zebras. So he would suck as a real doctor. But it would make for boring TV if the patients in fact did pass out because of an MI rather than some obscure parasite. Between not focusing on the most likely diagnoses for various symptoms and the fact that he despises clinic (where you tend to see nothing but horses 24-7), he's actually a pretty bad doctor if you take him off the small screen and into real life. As mentioned above, for the obscure things, the better doctors will go home and read up on symptoms and come back with some obscure possibilities to add to the differential diagnosis. Then rarely think of them out of the blue unless they have seen them before. Nor should they. The rarer something is, the less likely it is the right answer (except perhaps on board exams).

The one thing the show does well is use of the differential diagnosis. When he writes symptoms and diseases up on the blackboard and then sends his lackeys off to do tests that will eliminate one or more of the possibilities. That is real medicine, and something not enough current practitioners are good at. Medicine is not about jumping to a diagnosis (which unfortunately the House character does, quite frequently) or ordering a barrage of random tests. It is about making lists of diagnosis, and then carefully selecting what tests you need to narrow the list to the right answer. As Sherlock Holmes (who the House character is based on) used to say, that which remains, however implausible, must be the answer.