Hollywood has a deep fascination with the world of medicine. In fact, since 1951, there have been 66 shows about doctors or anything related to healthcare in the U.S. And yet, despite the show business’s fascination with the medical industry, it still makes a lot of mistakes in depicting doctors, hospitals, and how the whole industry works.
One of the things they often make a mistake on is patient monitors. If you’re working in a hospital using Illumisoft support services for patient monitoring, then you know these errors. Many TV shows depict doctors yelling that their patient is flatlining, but when you see the monitor, it shows signs that the patient is stable.
Aside from this medical myth, here are other misconceptions that Hollywood loves repeating.
Myth #1: Doctors can multi-task
Most medical shows feature a bright doctor able to diagnose a patient without even consulting his peers. In reality, though, this rarely happens. Doctors are not a jack-of-all-trades kind of people.
When a patient comes into the emergency room, a handful of physicians and nurses will look into his condition to see what kind of treatment he needs. It rarely takes one doctor to figure out how to cure a patient. But for dramatic purposes, TV shows often do that to elevate that character’s significance to the drama.
Myth #2: Hospitals are magnets for intense scenarios
If you’re an avid fan of House M.D., you’ve probably wondered how one hospital can accommodate so much obscure diseases and how one person is exceedingly smart enough to treat each unique medical case. The truth is that most hospitals don’t experience the high-octane scenarios that fictional character Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) experiences on a weekly basis.
According to most medical practitioners, hospital scenarios are often dull compared to their fictional counterparts. In fact, most doctors often spend their time filing reports and not scribbling furiously on a whiteboard trying to figure out a vague and mysterious disease.
Also, there’s not a lot of drama in a real hospital, unlike Grey’s Anatomy. Most doctors are too busy with their patients and updating their medical knowledge.
Myth #3: Doctors are rebels
It’s a common sight in TV shows that some doctors go against the instructions of attending physicians and use a different treatment on a patient all because their gut says that they’re doing the right thing. The patient gets better and then, the attending physician realizes his mistake and commends the resident for going with his gut.
In reality, that resident will not only be terminated but might also be barred from practicing medicine. That’s because there’s a hierarchy in the hospital and everyone needs to adhere to that not to soothe the ego of the higher-ranking doctors. It’s because these doctors are much more knowledgeable and experienced than those below them.
These are some of the most common myths about medicine that are being perpetuated by Hollywood. It may display great drama, but in real medicine, it’s erroneous and could lead uninformed people to make wrong decisions. So, enjoy your medical shows, but if you need real medical help, listen to the professionals and keep your assumptions to yourself.
