However, many critics question the genre’s integrity as they deem the fictional hospitals to be skewing audience perceptions of medical treatment and providing unrealistic expectations for care. It is true that these dramas tend to exaggerate the truth to make the episodes more engaging. They usually focus on extremely rare illnesses, which are often real ailments, and combat them with experimental treatments. Also, the doctors are always seen operating or talking to patients when in reality, doctors spend most of their time filling out paperwork.
Their depictions of pregnancy are interesting as labour and delivery are always very quick. For example, in the Season 12 finale of Grey’s Anatomy, April Kepner gives birth at home as she doesn’t think she’ll make it to the hospital in time. However, medical professionals attest to the average labour time for first-time mothers as being 8 to 12 hours. Births are always dramatic experiences on shows such as Call the Midwife, which can be quite daunting to women who have never given birth.
But does any dramatization affect the shows' integrity and skew viewers’ perceptions of a hospital environment? As an avid Grey's fan, I did not set out to gain some form of medical knowledge from the show and certainly would not feel comfortable performing open heart surgery, even after watching it being performed over several episodes. The answer lies in the show’s category as a ‘medical drama’, with emphasis on the ‘drama’. People watch shows like New Amsterdam and Private Practice for entertainment rather than for educational purposes. Would you not find it rather scary if a medical student told you they’d been revising for their exams by watching one of these series? Fans of the shows know that many of the episodes focus on staff relationships and the emotions of patients rather than on the technicalities of surgery, and it is this focus which makes for such an interesting watch.
The answer lies in the show’s category as a ‘medical drama’, with emphasis on the ‘drama’.
In fact, many of the dramas have largely been praised for the number of accuracies they contain within the restraints of being an entertaining drama. Scrubs has been widely named as the most realistic medical show of them all as it captures the residency training process and the dynamics of a hospital.
So, to conclude, medical dramas are still very valid forms of entertainment. Whether they are factually accurate or not, they continue to enthral audiences and never fail to conjure up a new storyline.
No spoilers for the last episode of Grey’s please!
