How Realistic Is Your Favorite TV Show About Doctors?

Scrubs
“The most realistic aspect is that doctors will often have a group conversation around the patient’s bed (the teaching rounds) as if the patient is more of an observer than a participant,” says Mary Maluccio, M.D., oncology surgeon
 
 
 
 
 
Quincy, M.E.
“[Quincy] was a Sherlock Holmes character. In medicine, you’re trying to figure out what’s wrong with your patient. I see referral after referral where they focused on one bush and missed the entire forest,” says William Wooden, M.D., plastic surgeon
 
 
 
 
 
House
“His thought process and dogged determination to reach a correct diagnosis are akin to how an allergist needs to function. The value of our tests is only as good as the personal history that supports them,” says Frederick Leickly, M.D., pediatric allergist
 
 
 
 
 
St. Elsewhere
“They did a very nice job using real medical terms and conditions. It was the first show that worked very hard to be extremely realistic,” says Michael Kraus, M.D., kidney specialist
 
 
 
 
 
ER
“The realistic thing was the trauma cases. Not realistic: the love stories and social drama,” says Malaz Boustani, M.D., geriatric specialist