Playing doctor on television

I laughed when I saw this article from MSN and Forbes Magazine about how medical television shows get some of their details wrong http://health.msn.com/general/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100171006&GT1=10514. I laughed because I have heard doctors more than once expressing their frustration with medical shows and the expectations they create for some patients. The doctors in my office especially seem to hate House, though I admit I watch it regularly.

Doctors aren't the only ones whose jobs are exaggerated for the sake of entertainment. Ask lawyers and police detectives how they feel about the Law and Order series. Ask a chef about the fabulous apartment Monica on Friends lives in. Ask a journalist about how they feel about the movie Anchorman.

Of course, none of these jobs create life-threatening expectations or fears about going to a hospital. An article in Health Communication and another in Clinical Transplantion in 2005 especially criticized the dearth of stolen kidney storylines, creating unfavorable views of organ donation. Donate Life Hollywood is a foundation trying to remove stolen kidney storylines from television and encourage more shows that show organ donation in a positive light.

The medical community certainly cannot distate how medical stories are portrayed on television, but it can serve as a resource for how to make these stories as compelling, entertaining and accurate as possible.