What many people think they know about the medical profession comes from television. From ER to Scrubs, the life of a doctor as seen on TV seems to be dramatic and chaotic, but is any of it real?
Not as much as one might think. Television takes a lot of artistic license with every story it tells, and it seems they take even more when it comes to medicine, as, in real life, the profession can be slow and include a lot of paperwork. Over sixteen seasons Grey's Anatomy has certainly offered up a lot of drama, but how much truth has the show been able to supply?
Wrong: Solo Surgery
Surgery on Grey's Anatomy happens all the time, and not always in the operating room. There was, of course, the time an operation took place in the hospital elevator. Could this happen? Maybe. But would an intern be doing the surgery completely solo? Absolutely no. Sure, it's great for a storyline, but it's not really safe or smart when it's a real human and not an actor on the table. In a real hospital, an intern would never ever do a solo surgery... nor would anyone outside of an extreme situation.
Right: Hospital Entrance
The entrance to Grey Sloan Hospital looks exactly like that of a real hospital because it is, in fact, a real hospital. The Veterans Administration Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center in California is a real hospital and serves as the entrance to the fictional Grey Sloan. When in doubt use reality to portray real life. The entrance may play host to a lot more drama on the show than in real life, but the look is completely right.
Wrong: Repercussions
Again, Grey's Anatomy, like any medical show on TV, is written for drama and to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. However, the residents at Grey Sloan make a lot of mistakes to keep the drama high at every minute of every episode. These residents also stick around for quite a few seasons despite the many many mistakes they make. In real life, there would be far more repercussions for the mistakes made by the doctors on Grey's.
Right: The Look of Organs
The organs used during the surgery scenes on Grey's Anatomy come pretty close to mirroring the look real of the real stuff. How is that possible?
The organs used on the show are often real organs from animals, usually cows. Not all scenes offer real organs, of course, but some do, and that does a very decent job of making the operations look genuine, as if an actual doctor were working or on call.
Wrong: Different Departments
Grey's Anatomy follows surgical interns. Everyone always wanted to be in surgery—especially Christina Yang—but, in real life, surgical residents don't work in quite so many different departments as the residents on Grey's Anatomy seem to. Once you're a resident, you're not exploring the way interns do. Grey's, of course, wants to keep storylines fresh and interesting, but that's why they often veer a bit from reality.
Right: The Internet
Doctors may do their best to tame a situation, but unruly, poorly-educated patients can make their jobs unnecessarily difficult. Often, patients arrive with their own wild theories about what is wrong with them or some theory about how to treat themselves. Patients in real life consult the internet and bring their findings to their appointments, just as it's portrayed in Grey's Anatomy. It's a real-life phenomenon on and off-screen.
Wrong: Medical Bay
In every episode of Grey's Anatomy, the surgeons—the characters fans follow and care most about—seem to run every room they enter, including the emergency department and medical bay. The truth is that surgeons don't run the medical bay; they are often called for consults, but the Emergency Department and trauma bay have their own doctors who work with the patients when they come through the door.
Right: Scrubs
Grey's Anatomy has been on the air for sixteen seasons. Most of the costumes on the show are scrubs. That's why the show began producing real scrubs.
Those scrubs don't only dress the actors on the show, but they are also produced and sold to real hospitals. So, while they may seem to fit, the actors a little better than real doctors, the scrubs on Grey's are very real and sold to real hospitals.
Wrong: Cleanliness
The doctors scrubbing into surgery is correct, and the idea that cleanliness is necessary and required before an operation is certainly accurate. However, Grey Sloan hospital is quite a bit cleaner and shinier than the usual hospital a doctor would work in. Hospitals are often designed to do a job, not to look good on camera. Obviously, the set design on Grey's was meant for the camera, not to be completely accurate, though an authentic amount of disarray would fit the atmosphere at times.
Right: Music in the Operating Room
Surgeries often take many hours, something they mention on Grey's but obviously can't portray due to the time constraints of an hour-long drama. To help stay focused, just like many other people do at work, surgeons listen to music in the operating room. It's not supposed to distract from the job, but to assist. The work is serious, but the music helps keep everyone's head on straight.