Healthcare in the Time of Grey's Anatomy

How medical television shows have shaped people's perceptions of doctors and diseases

Eric McCandless/ABC

It is hard to overemphasize how much I loved Greys Anatomy in high school. I loved it superstitiously. Due to a weird set of coincidences, I truly believed that if Greys Anatomy wasnt new that week, I would have a bad week. At the time, it aired on Sunday nights, and I took it as an omen. I would show up to school Monday morning filled with dread after a rerun.

I dont blame Shonda Rhimes for my misfortunes anymore. But hours (or, more accurately, probably days) of watchingGrey's, Scrubs,and other medical TV shows has still shaped my life, if research is any indication.Several studies have shown that people who watch a lot of medical shows are more likely to believe certain things about doctors, and about healthcare.

Admittedly, these medical shows provide a skewed image of the healthcare system at best. Surely no hospital has had as many romantic pairings as the doctors on Greys (whose 11th season starts next month), and I have to imagine bedpan racing in the workplace is frowned upon.

Though you might think that people are perfectly capable of separating television from reality, cultivation theory suggests they cannot, entirely. The theory goes that the social reality people are exposed to on TV shapes their attitudes toward real social reality, and it does so, of course, in subtle and complicated ways that are hard to nail down. Prevailing societal attitudes obviously influence what goes on TV, too, further complicating the relationship.

Television, movies, books, all of these things, a lot of people like to believe theyre just fun and games, that they really dont affect us, its just entertainment, says Dr. Rebecca M. Chory, a professor in Frostburg State Universitys business school who has studied TVs influence on attitudes toward healthcare. But the research consistently shows thats not true.

A 2005 survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the majority of primetime TV viewers reported learning something new about a disease or other health issue over six months of viewing. About one-third of viewers took some kind of action after learning about a health issue on TV.

Many medical shows have physicians consult for accuracy, and an article in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics notes that starting with ER in the 90s, TV shows began using more detailed medical jargon to describe conditions and procedures. But there are still inconsistencies. Treatments for patients with seizures are sometimes downright dangerous, with doctors trying to hold patients down, or put things in their mouths (they could choke). Patients tend to survive cardiac arrest more often on television than they do in real life, making CPR seem more effective than it often is.

That can lead to a misunderstanding as to the likelihood of a patient or loved one surviving a cardiac arrest, says Dr. David Brown, chair of the department of emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. But it isnt really good TV if everybody dies, right?

Continue reading here:
Healthcare in the Time of Grey's Anatomy