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Medical T.V. shows and movies do not always accurately depict what life is actually like as a doctor.  There’s a lot of over-dramatization and shall we say, artistic license that goes on with these shows.  But before we delve into all of that, lets talk about some things that Hollywood got right.

1. Doctors Carry Pagers.  Medical dramas often show the tumultuous relationship between doctors and their pagers.  Yes, even in 2018, doctors still carry pagers which alarm in emergency situations such as cardiac arrests.  In the rest of society, pagers have been relegated to the antiquity of the early 1990s but not in medicine.  Although my work recently provided iPhones for all physicians, we still carry the tried-and-true pagers for emergencies.

2. Long Work Hours.  Medical Dramas are not shy about depicting doctors hard at work for many hours at a time.  This is true of real life doctors as well.  Typical hospital shifts are 12 hours long.  Occasionally, on-call shifts can last as long as 24 hours.  While the work shifts are usually longer for doctors in training, even as a fully-trained attending physician, there are still plenty of days where you work well into the night.

3.  Doctors love their jobs.  Medical shows do a pretty good job showing doctors who are very passionate and committed to their work.  I think this can be said for most clinicians in the medical field.  Medicine is not something most people would choose to go into if they didn’t really love it.

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Okay…      Now lets talk about how Hollywood got it wrong.  Between the super dramatic action scenes and overly sweet love stories, there is a lot to talk about here.  So lets grab some popcorn, sit back, and get started looking into how movies and T.V. shows don’t always depict what life is really like behind the white coat.

1.  Doctors have horrible bedside manner.  Remember that show, House?  Where the main character is a doctor who seems to view patients more as biologic machines that need repairing as opposed to human beings with real lives, personalities, and feelings.  This is not true of most doctors!  I promise you.  In fact, having a good bedside-manner is one of the most important characteristics a physician can have.

2. Doctors are all health nuts who are in great shape.  Think of all those medical shows:  Grey’s Anatomy with McDreamy/McSteamy, ER with George Clooney, not to mention all the other characters on those shows who could easily land side jobs as body builders or runway models.  I assure you, this is not true in real life.  If anything, the busy day-to-day life of a typical physician does not lend itself to the most healthy lifestyle.  Case in point in the pic above.  After a long shift, nothing is more soothing than some greasy deep fried food to go with a side of Netflix topped with no exercise.

3. The perfectly starched white coat as a symbol for the medical profession in movies.  In real life many healthcare professionals wear white coats, not just doctors.  Laboratory scientists, phlebotomists, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, and the list goes on.  The fact is, the white coat is really more of a protective garment to keep your clothes clean and is worn by many different professionals in the hospital.  Oh and the perfectly ironed and starched look?  Yeah right!  After a few long shifts in the hospital, these coats are not looking like something off the rack at Nordstroms, that I can promise you.

4.  Doctors…  Do…  Everything…   Hollywood shows doctors drawing blood, inserting IVs, counting cells through microscopes, transporting patients from room to room, and even going to patients’ homes to investigate their living situations.  These things don’t happen in real life.  Healthcare is a team sport and the doctor is only part of that team.  There are nurses, phlebotomists, social workers, laboratory technicians, case managers, and many other professionals who are needed to ensure that all these different specialized tasks and procedures get completed in order to ensure optimal patient care.

5.  Doctors have time to sit around and reflect on life.  Remember that scene in episode 1 of Grey’s Anatomy where all the main characters are sitting around in a hallway doing nothing but reflecting on how tired they all are.  That is not going to happen, especially not for surgical interns who are perhaps some of the busiest people in the whole hospital and always on the go.

6.  Life as a doctor is always action packed, life-and-death drama.  What the TV shows don’t show, is that much of the day is spent just sitting in front of a computer.  But this work is not boring, this is all the behind-the-scenes stuff where doctors research their patient’s cases and form the plan of care.  Granted, some doctors like ER docs or trauma surgeons might see more action than others, there is still a substantial amount of desk work for everyone in the medical field.

7. Doctors all play golf.  I don’t know where this one got started.  But the medical profession is comprised of a diverse group of people from all walks of life who enjoy a variety of different activities during their time off.  I mean, I guess I would play golf if I were good at it.  But I tried golf and I couldn’t even hit the ball off the tee successfully haha.

I could go on and on with this, but I think I’ll take a break for now.  I may do a Part II of this post sometime in the future.  If you’ve noticed that Hollywood has made some mistakes in showcasing your profession, I’d love to hear about it.  Feel free to comment on this post or send me an email.

Cheers,

Mike