My thoughts. Medical shows are great and fun. But they are not an accurate representation of what medicine actually is.
People become EMTs/medics based on what they think it can be through the media and shows, etc. Then they get upset when it's not what they pictured. A code isn't ran into a hospital at 30 mph with the team yelling, "all right what do we have?!?!" I make fun of this constantly with my partner and we grab our cots by the siderails and pretend to run to the charge; the sad part is they usually get the joke from what they've seen in entertainment.
On-scene, EMS are always slow and methodical, never running faster than we can think of a good idea. Watching Chicago Fire and thinking we run into burning buildings everyday is grossly inaccurate and makes unassuming people go, "wow look at that I can do that!" Then is a big disappointment. And an even worse show.
Scrubs is my favorite, and is very helpful in life lessons. Sometimes though, it's just good fun! As for House, attempt anything he does and be prepared to be trashed by the committees, and don't assume you can pull the, "I'm god's gift; you can't fire me" because it no work in reality friend. I've seen a great paramedic get trashed because they made up vitals, and not trashed for this reason, but trashed because they sassed the medical director who then reviewed the medic's charts and found discrepancies.
The idea about shadowing and volunteering for me was to find out how medicine really is! If I hadn't, I wouldn't be able to challenge what I know to be silly or wrong in entertainment. For all I knew, without shadowing, volunteering, etc. to help educate me on what medicine is and isn't, Chicago Med would have taught me that ED docs receive the pt, work them up, round on them, perform surgery on them, manage post-op, discharge, and then see them later in the clinic for follow-ups!
Best to you! Good luck! Make sure everything you do is for the right reasons!
