6 things Hollywood gets wrong about doctors - and 4 things it gets right
The American viewing public can't seem to get enough of doctors. Medical dramas have been a television staple since "City Hospital" aired in 1951. Since then, we've had films and television programs about physicians that have spanned genres - from historical pieces like "Mercy Street" and "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," to soap operas like "General Hospital" to comedies like "Scrubs" to hugely popular dramas like "House," "E.R." and "Grey's Anatomy."
As a result, there are a ton of tropes and clichés out there about medicine and those who practice it. But what's reality and what's just creative license? And how do fictional depictions of doctors change how we view both physicians and medicine in real life?
Business Insider recently spoke with Jenna Reece and Faiz Jiwani, two fourth-year medical students at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons who have also participated in Columbia's narrative medicine graduate program. They both described some of the popular tropes they frequently see in medical fiction.
Here are six myths about doctors and medicine that Hollywood frequently puts out there, along with four surprising tropes it often gets right:
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- Rupee falls 10 paise to settle at 83.48 against US dollar
- Include 4 hrs of physical activity, 8 hrs sleep in routine for optimal health, suggests study
- 11 must-visit tourist places in Nainital in 2024
- Indegene's ₹1,842 crore IPO to open on May 6
- BSE shares tank nearly 19% after Sebi directive on regulatory fee