Over the years, it’s become clear that medical dramas are here to stay. For some reason, these award winning shows have managed to captivate audiences with their engaging characters and action-packed storylines. From start to finish, the fast-paced storylines have fans on the edge of their seats as they want to see how these surgeons will solve the cases or predicaments their in. However, only a few medical shows have stood the test of time.
As for the medical dramas that are currently on the air now, there are clear standouts. These includes Grey’s Anatomy, Chicago Med, The Good Doctor, and The Resident. And while these shows are undoubtedly worth binge-watching, we also have to point out that they suffer from medical drama clichés that have become all too familiar to viewers.
Rookies Getting Too Competitive With Each Other
Some medical dramas like to do stories surrounding medical interns. Interns are essentially doctors who are in the beginning stages of their medical careers. Grey’s Anatomy’s first season largely revolved around a group of interns, which includes the titular character Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) and her best friend, Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) among others. These two were part of an iconic set of interns that were caught in a lot of drama and mischief. Similarly, the new Canadian medical drama, Nurses, also revolves around a group of young nurses who are just starting out at St. Mary’s hospital.
Doctors Or Nurses With A Mysterious Backstory
When it comes to medical dramas, we are often introduced to a character with a mysterious back story. For instance, in New Amsterdam, we still don’t know much about Max Goodwin, the show’s lead character. Specifically, there’s not much information about his past although that may emerge soon enough. In Grey’s Anatomy, the alluring McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) had been introduced as the perfect and mysterious love interest of Meredith. Yet, it was soon revealed that he was married in the shocking season 1 finale.
Doctors Hooking Up With Other Doctors Or Nurses
More often than not, today’s medical dramas also deal with story arcs that involve the personal lives of the medical staff. And when shows get personal, it also delves into the characters’ relationships with each other.
Often times, there would be some flirtation, and, in some cases, the characters hook up for real. For instance, Dr. Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry) in The Resident eventually got together with Nurse Nicolette “Nic” Nevin (Emily VanCamp). NBC drama Chicago Med had the famous fan favorites Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto) and Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss). Grey's Anatomy had Meredith and Derek, and The Good Doctor had Dr. Claire Brown (Antonia Thomas) and Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez).
Doctors Who Cross The Line For Patients
Medical dramas often like to explore story arcs involving doctors crossing the line when they are dealing with patients. Most of the time, characters who feel the need to do this are portrayed as well-meaning individuals who are determined to save their patients.
Such was the case when Grey's Anatomy's Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) made the decision to cut Denny’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) LVAD wire to increase his chances of getting a donor’s heart. Medical drama Night Shift once featured a storyline where Eoin Macken’s Dr. TC Callahan goes against a patient’s DNR.
Doctors With Strained Parent Relationships
In medical dramas, the doctors and nurses eventually form tight bonds and become a true family. Most of the time, however, these same characters are often revealed to have difficult relationships with their own parents. On Grey’s, we eventually learn that Meredith and her father have become estranged after he and her mother split up.
In Chicago Med, it was eventually revealed that Dr. Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell) wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with his father after he decided not to join the family business. In The Good Doctor, Shaun (Freddie Highmore) also had a strained relationship with his parents after it was revealed that his father was abusive towards him.
Patients Doing Well Who Unexpectedly Die Later On
We’re guessing this has something to do with the need to feature a plot twist, especially as medical dramas reach their season finale. In the case of Grey’s Anatomy, one of the cases like this involves none other than This is Us star Mandy Moore.
Moore played a patient who wouldn’t wake up after undergoing a surgery that seemed routine. A similar event happened in New Amsterdam, where Max’s wife, Georgia (Lisa O'Hare), surprisingly dies following a major vehicle accident that she seemed to have managed to walk away from initially.
On-Call Rooms Becoming a Hook-Up Spot
Yes, we have come to realize that dating at work is a common practice among medical professionals, at least when we’re talking about the fictional ones we see in various shows. More interestingly, the other common practice that one might also observe involves characters getting intimate in the on-call room.
Typically, these rooms are made available to doctors so that they can get some rest in between procedures. On shows such as Chicago Med and especially Grey’s Anatomy though, they also serve as a preferred venue for characters to hook-up.
Patient Emergencies That Involve Coding
In any medical drama episode, there is always a patient who is said to be critical. And in some cases, they flat line, which results in the need to perform CPR or use the defibrillator. Scenes like this can happen in the beginning or even towards the end. It all depends on how it relates to the storyline.
In some cases, one of the show’s main characters even end up needing resuscitation. This was the case on Grey’s when Meredith got knocked into very freezing water and looked almost dead upon arriving at the hospital.
Doctors Performing Field Surgery, Sometimes With A Pen
Scenes like this are typically presented when the character has to be outside a hospital. They could be in a meeting or on a date. Either way, there would soon be a perfect stranger that suffers a medical emergency, and the character would proceed to perform an emergency procedure that involves cutting into the patient's throat so that they can breathe or remain alive. One of the most common procedures shown is called a cricothyroidotomy, which is often done with a pen. According to Reuters, however, researchers said “a cricothyroidotomy just with a ballpoint pen is virtually impossible.”
Hospital Staff Meeting Up At The Hangout Spot When Their Shift Ends Every Episode
We’re starting to think that every medical drama needs a hangout place for their characters to gather at the end of their shift. In the case of The Night Shift, the rooftop is where the party happens. Characters on Grey’s almost always meet up at Joe’s whether they’re celebrating something, waiting for news on a patient or sulking. As for Chicago Med, the doctors often see each other at Molly’s along with characters from the other One Chicago shows. On the other hand, in The Resident, Conrad and his friends like to hang out at Wayton’s Bar B Q.