A common controversy among TV fanatics and medical professionals is the level of realism on medical-based TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy. The program is a popular medical drama show that first aired on March 27th, 2007, and is still continuing to this day. The show follows the social and romantic lives of interns, residents, and attending doctors at the fictional hospital Seattle Grace-Mercy West. Throughout the show’s 21 seasons, the show’s audience learns about real-life illnesses and injuries. But how accurate is everything that the actors and actresses are told to say? How much of it is true, and how much of it is made up?
On almost every TV show or movie that involves anything beyond basic knowledge, it is common to have a consultant on the show or movie who works with the writer, director, and actresses to make the film as accurate as possible. In the TV show Grey’s Anatomy, there is a wide variety of patients experiencing everything from heart transplants to being impaled by a telephone pole. The level of creativity used to formulate cases is extremely high, thanks to the producers Shonda Rhimes and Allan Hamilton.
Allen Hamilton is an American professor, Harvard Medical School neurosurgeon, and consultant to ABC’s medical drama Grey’s Anatomy and the spin-off show Grey’s Anatomy: Private Practice. During the 21 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, Dr. Hamilton has helped the show remain as medically accurate as possible while still maintaining the magic of fictional films by providing ideas and explanations on how to get the audience to capture the correct idea of what life in the medical field is really like.
The hospital environment of Grey’s Anatomy: It is obvious when watching that the relationships inside the hospital may not be accurate. Many healthcare professionals describe Grey’s Anatomy as “unrelatable and ridiculous” and “many doctors have pointed out that the unprofessional depiction of doctors and unrealistic medical practice have distracted them significantly from the viewing experience.” This is a popular opinion for many people who work in the medical profession, because what happens in Grey’s Anatomy is not a perfect example of what hospitals should be doing. For example, many people have pointed out how situations are not handled correctly in some episodes, or how “hookups did happen in on-call rooms occasionally, but the show makes it look like that’s what goes on all the time.”
Although Grey’s Anatomy may not always be 100% correct 100% of the time, it is important to remember that it is a TV show after all, and no film will be correct all the time. And to be honest, TV shows and movies would probably be a whole lot less interesting if everything in the film were factual. I mean, just imagine how boring popular franchises like Harry Potter or Deadpool would be if everything were as it happened in real life. People would simply not watch them.
