5 things doctors do on TV, but not in real life
You know what drives doctors crazy?
The things doctors do on TV dramas such as Grey's Anatomy, ER and House.
So, the Calgary Eyeopener's medical contributor Dr. Raj Bhardwaj decided to debunk a few of the recurring storylines.
1. The Romance
The promiscuous canoodling between McDreamy and Meredith on Grey's Anatomy and the number of times they were caught necking in front of patients?
It just doesn’t happen.
I won't lie. Medical students often meet their future husbands and wives at medical school, but so do law and engineering students.
2. People don't always survive CPR
Sadly, the number of people who survive CPR on television is much higher than in real life.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2012 found that only two per cent of people who receive CPR fully recover.
In contrast, research shows that 75 per cent of patients on TV skip out of the hospital.
False hope is a terrible thing to sell people.
3. Medical tests don't magically solve illness
Doctors rarely order a bunch of tests to pinpoint what is causing your mystery symptoms. House was especially bad for this.
When it comes to being a good diagnostician, I quote William Osler.
"First, listen to the patient,” said the Canadian doctor.
When doctors take the time to do a thorough history of your illness, they often make the correct diagnosis. Tests help us to rule out some things on our list of possible diagnosis.
4. Doctors don't want to be detectives
Another recurring theme in House is that patients fib and doctors get a high out of unravelling those lies to figure out a diagnosis.
But in real life, doctors don't have time to play detective.
We just want the truth so we can help you get better and move on to our next patient.
So don't say you only had two beers when you really had seven because you think we might judge you (because we won't).
5. Doctors respect wishes of patients, families
There was an episode of Grey’s Anatomy where the residents were super-curious about what killed a patient, but the family refused an autopsy. Then they went behind the family’s back and did one anyway.
When people see things like that, it erodes their trust in doctors and in the system as a whole. We take our ethical duties and boundaries very seriously.
As a matter of fact, that scene is one reason I never got into Grey’s Anatomy.
