I used to watch a good deal of medical tv shows back before med school – I remember talking about ER during 8th grade homeroom – but I definitely watch a whole lot more now that I’m a med student. Part of the reason is wanting to see if I can understand more of the medical jargon that gets tossed around on those shows, but recently I’ve found myself thinking about the human component of medicine and how that is addressed by the shows. After all, all TV shows do is put the range of human emotions, characteristics, and experiences on display, just manipulated to fit the setting of that specific show.
So, that said, I’m gonna try analyzing this aspect of medical tv shows as I watch them from the eyes of a pre-clinical med student. Since I refuse to watch Grey’s Anatomy, it’ll be focused on Scrubs and House, shows I think better reflect real-world medicine anyway. Season 9 of Scrubs hits home on a new level for me, since it’s being retooled to show the “experiences” of med students.
Scrubs Season 9 Episode 3 – Our Role Models
Aside from me cringing every time I see first-year med students on TV rounding in the hospital, the message of students “mentoring” their mentors resonates well with me. My own professors keep telling me the reason they love teaching so much is that students keep them on their game. If we didn’t challenge our teachers to improve their lectures, correct their mistakes, and lead by example, we wouldn’t be fulfilling our end of the bargain.
That, I think, is a big lesson for all of us med students. We can’t be afraid of voicing our convictions in the face of experience and “expertise.” We might ruffle some feathers, but in the end we’d be giving our teachers exactly what they’re looking for.
