John Carter, MD: County General

[msrbutch1]

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Hello to all ER fans:

If this post sounds dorky, that's probably because it is. Anyway, I don't care. Who here would like to become a phsyican like the fictional ER doc, John Carter? I completely understand that, in many ways, the show ER is not a good representation of "real life" medicine. However, I think the first 3 seasons were cool in that they showed an underdog in John Carter as he progressed from being a caring/fumbling med student to becoming a respectable doctor. Very inspirational. I'd like to know what anyone thinks about this.

 

[BKN]

Hello to all ER fans:

If this post sounds dorky, that's probably because it is. Anyway, I don't care. Who here would like to become a phsyican like the fictional ER doc, John Carter? I completely understand that, in many ways, the show ER is not a good representation of "real life" medicine. However, I think the first 3 seasons were cool in that they showed an underdog in John Carter as he progressed from being a caring/fumbling med student to becoming a respectable doctor. Very inspirational. I'd like to know what anyone thinks about this.

Actually that's the story of every doctor on the board.

 

[tacrum43]

Hello to all ER fans:

If this post sounds dorky, that's probably because it is. Anyway, I don't care. Who here would like to become a phsyican like the fictional ER doc, John Carter? I completely understand that, in many ways, the show ER is not a good representation of "real life" medicine. However, I think the first 3 seasons were cool in that they showed an underdog in John Carter as he progressed from being a caring/fumbling med student to becoming a respectable doctor. Very inspirational. I'd like to know what anyone thinks about this.

First of all, yes it is dorky, but I love ER so, you're not alone in your dorkiness.

As for Carter, I agree to some extent, but he had his faults too. Like when he was trying to get his residency at County, he did somethings that definitely didn't put the patient's welfare first. And that time he slept with that female patient that came on to him in the first season.

Personally, I'd like to be more like Dr. Greene. The Dr. Greene before he got all surly after being attacked, however. And sans the brain cancer. And the mean wife. But otherwise, Dr. Greene was awesome. 👍

 

[ND2005]

I want to be like Dr. Carter

To clarify:

-I want to have a buttload of money
-I want to be irresistable to the ladies

 

[msrbutch1]

oops! 😱 I forgot about Carter sleeping with a patient. Also, I forgot about his love affairs with other med students/physicians. Don't side with him on those decisions...I guess we only see what we wanna see sometimes (e.g. the good qualities).

Yes, Mark was the man. Too bad things didn't work out with Susan in the third episode...she shouldn't have left Chicago.

 

[msrbutch1]

ND2005: Your comments were funny.

Always made me laugh when they talked about Carter's grandparents while he was throwing up...after he got busted for coming in smelling like alcohol.

 

[tacrum43]

Yes, Mark was the man. Too bad things didn't work out with Susan in the third episode...she shouldn't have left Chicago.

I know. So sad. But Sherry Stringfield was leaving the show for personal reasons, so their only other alternative would have been to recast the role. And I have yet to see an example of a show where that was the right decision.

 

[Wickedgood]

Ok, since this is the "what ER character do you like/are like the most" thread, I like Abby. Tough, her ex-husband was an dingus, she overcame her insecurities, went back to school, and seems to be a good doctor.

I stopped watching the show when she broke up with Jake. That actor is HOT ~

Actually, I watched an episode last week, and it was marginally enjoyable. Pretty much like a soap opera, no matter how long you've been away - you can still get the "gist" of what's going on 😛

 

[konverse]

Hello to all ER fans:
I completely understand that, in many ways, the show ER is not a good representation of "real life" medicine.

is ER really that unrealistic? just wondering. i guess my impressions are that it's more real-life than the other med-related shows on the air...
yah tru tru sometimes a doc just leaves in the middle of a crazy trauma surgery to speak to the husband's wife or something but...
for all those peeps in chicago... can anyone verify if that's what CCH is like? other than doc magoo's being across the street i haven't really got confirmation...

 

[DarkFark]

Hello to all ER fans:

If this post sounds dorky, that's probably because it is. Anyway, I don't care. Who here would like to become a phsyican like the fictional ER doc, John Carter? I completely understand that, in many ways, the show ER is not a good representation of "real life" medicine. However, I think the first 3 seasons were cool in that they showed an underdog in John Carter as he progressed from being a caring/fumbling med student to becoming a respectable doctor. Very inspirational. I'd like to know what anyone thinks about this.

I think the first season of ER in particular was very respectably realistic; I did not know this until I caught a handful of reruns of the first season this winter. Prior to that, I thought smallpox and helicopter crashes were the norm.

ER was all-around good TV for a while.

 

[tacrum43]

I think the first season of ER in particular was very respectably realistic; I did not know this until I caught a handful of reruns of the first season this winter. Prior to that, I thought smallpox and helicopter crashes were the norm.

ER was all-around good TV for a while.

The first couple seasons are actually pretty good. After that, there are some good episodes, but it has become more about the soap opera than the medicine.

 

[slb830]

Speaking of ER....
I just watched all of Season 1 and 2 on DVD, and now I am on to Seasons 3 and 4. I love the show - and it was fun to go back to the beginning. Especially since I was screaming the whole time "dont let Weaver come to County, dont let Weaver come to County!"

I wonder if they really give med students as much freedom and Carter had? Sounds rather unsafe to me.

 

[konverse]

is ER really that unrealistic? just wondering. i guess my impressions are that it's more real-life than the other med-related shows on the air...
yah tru tru sometimes a doc just leaves in the middle of a crazy trauma surgery to speak to the husband's wife or something but...
for all those peeps in chicago... can anyone verify if that's what CCH is like? other than doc magoo's being across the street i haven't really got confirmation...

boo... no one answered my question! 😡 🙂
does anyone know if the ER version of the Cook County Hospital that you all see on TV is anything like the real one (http://www.cchil.org/Cch/cook.htm?)
thanks! 👍

 

[Rebs]

I don't what you guys are talking about, I would much rather be Dr. Christian Troy from Nip/Tuck. Definitely gets hotter chicks and better witty one-liners.

 

[Law2Doc]

I don't what you guys are talking about, I would much rather be Dr. Christian Troy from Nip/Tuck. Definitely gets hotter chicks and better witty one-liners.

No one wants to be Robert Rey from Dr. 90210?

ER was pretty realistic in the beginning, but to pull in the ratings got more off the wall. Not sure if it started with Dr. Greene getting beaten or Carter's drug addiction, but now clearly with helicopter crashes, gang shootings, etc it is far from the day to day ED experience. All these shows start out strong, and touted for their medical realism, and then die when they bring in soap opera writers to help pump them up. St Elsewhere died from the same kind of tinkering.

 

[CTSballer11]

No one wants to be Robert Rey from Dr. 90210?

ER was pretty realistic in the beginning, but to pull in the ratings got more off the wall. Not sure if it started with Dr. Greene getting beaten or Carter's drug addiction, but now clearly with helicopter crashes, gang shootings, etc it is far from the day to day ED experience. All these shows start out strong, and touted for their medical realism, and then die when they bring in soap opera writers to help pump them up. St Elsewhere died from the same kind of tinkering.[/QUOTE

So true. If I remember it correctly Carter started out as a surgical intern but then had a revelation and switched to Emergency Medicine.

 

[hunter1077]

No one wants to be Robert Rey from Dr. 90210?

ER was pretty realistic in the beginning, but to pull in the ratings got more off the wall. Not sure if it started with Dr. Greene getting beaten or Carter's drug addiction, but now clearly with helicopter crashes, gang shootings, etc it is far from the day to day ED experience. All these shows start out strong, and touted for their medical realism, and then die when they bring in soap opera writers to help pump them up. St Elsewhere died from the same kind of tinkering.

I am not so sure about that in our ED just last week 1 person was killed and three others hit from a gang shooting just outside the ER doors (like within six feet).

 

[Law2Doc]

I am not so sure about that in our ED just last week 1 person was killed and three others hit from a gang shooting just outside the ER doors (like within six feet).

I'm sure all of these events happen somewhere, sometime, just not in the same hospital week after week. It's the aggregation that makes it implausible.

 

[hunter1077]

I'm sure all of these events happen somewhere, sometime, just not in the same hospital week after week. It's the aggregation that makes it implausible.

I dont know....but a lot of soap opera junk can and does happen in a hospital, you just have to see it from the outside.

 

[Law2Doc]

I dont know....but a lot of soap opera junk can and does happen in a hospital, you just have to see it from the outside.

I've worked in several EDs, and it would make for a lousy show, but the first season of ER was much closer to what I saw than the last. ER actually got rave reviews from the profession as having some semblance of reality. No longer. When you take cataclismic events and pack them in week after week you make it too unreal, too incredible. St Elsewhere got destroyed by this. LA Law (not medical but a good example) too. There's such a thing as trying too hard for mass appeal and you lose your core audience, who initially flocked to the show when folks in the industry gave their blessing. If you like soap operas just tape/TiVo any network any afternoon. Primetime dramas do better when they strive for more.

 

[LizzyM]

Cook County Hospital has closed and has been replaced by John Stroger Hospital (new name, new building but the same old/same old just the same). Both of the hospitals are in the vicinity of the University of Illinois Chicago and Rush and their affiliated medical centers. I can't recall a restaurant/bar in the mix but there may be one.

Based on the exterior shots, the mythical County General is located some miles north and east of its inspiration: more or less in the River North section: north of the Merchandise Mart which is on the north bank of the Chicago River just north of the Loop (downtown), near the elevated trains that run by the Mart, but not as far north or east as Northwestern Memorial/Feinberg School of Medicine.

 

[Dr Trek 1]

I am 22 years old. WHen I was growing up, I watched ER religiously (although I stopped watching it 2 years ago for a variety of reasons). Carter was kind of like exactly how I pictured myself in medical training, and many people say that I even look like Noah Whyle

Although I always know that there is probably no ER in the country is as crazy (i.e. as busy and with so many unique cases in so little time) as the one on ER, I always admired his devotion to medicine.


I agree, though, I liked it best when Carter was a lowly med student being bossed around by Benton

 

[LizzyM]

I liked it best when Carter was a lowly med student being bossed around by Benton

Oh, the best episode is when Carter scrubs on Benton's own appendectomy. (And the demonstration of rebound tenderness in that episode was great acting.)

 

[msrbutch1]

Yeah, that was hilarious when Benton was on sedatives and said: "Put an x on my right abdomen so they don't take out my left kidney."

 

[Arsenic]

Personally, I'd like to be more like Dr. Greene. The Dr. Greene before he got all surly after being attacked, however. And sans the brain cancer. And the mean wife. But otherwise, Dr. Greene was awesome. 👍

i still cant believe they killed off dr.greene's character. the episode in hawaii when he finally passed was really sad. blah.

 

[NehsNairb]

The show started going downhill when Greene and Corday hooked up. I never couldn't stand her character. Since they decided to go down the soap opera route, might as well had Greene divorce Corday, rekindle his relationship with Lewis, and have Corday and Romano resolve that weird sexual tension between them.

 

[Law2Doc]

The show started going downhill when Greene and Corday hooked up. I never couldn't stand her character. Since they decided to go down the soap opera route, might as well had Greene divorce Corday, rekindle his relationship with Lewis, and have Corday and Romano resolve that weird sexual tension between them.

It's also about time on the show for someone's evil twin to pop onto the scene...
They lost too many strong actors (William Macy, George Clooney) and strode too far from the original Michael Crichton pilot, and had too many characters beaten and killed to keep my interest.

 

[medgirl20]

is ER really that unrealistic? just wondering. i guess my impressions are that it's more real-life than the other med-related shows on the air...
yah tru tru sometimes a doc just leaves in the middle of a crazy trauma surgery to speak to the husband's wife or something but...
for all those peeps in chicago... can anyone verify if that's what CCH is like? other than doc magoo's being across the street i haven't really got confirmation...

In real trauma's everything is much calmer everyone knows their job and just does it also we have the chaplain at all traumas.

 

[msrbutch1]

Man, I miss Sherry Stringfield. When she turned away from Greene for Arizona, she turned away from me. Lol. Yeah, they definitely should've had Susan get back with Mark. 😛

 

[tacrum43]

Man, I miss Sherry Stringfield. When she turned away from Greene for Arizona, she turned away from me. Lol. Yeah, they definitely should've had Susan get back with Mark. 😛

They weren't actually ever together. The love that never was. Very sad. 🙁