Medical(?) Question
We were watching the television show 'House' (the lighthearted medical drama with the grumpy doctor) the other night, and as what normally happens in the show, a patient shows up with a mystery illness and it is the doctors jobs to find out what is wrong with the patient and cure him / her. The team of doctors debate among themselves what the symptoms are, possible causes, and then go about administering the tests or giving the prescribed medicine in order to cure the patient.
It amazes me how quickly the 'doctors' can not only diagnose an illness but recommend treatment. It has led me to this question: Do real doctors watching these shows play along with the show and try to diagnose the patients illness?
It is similar to a murder mystery where viewers try to guess who the killer is based on the clues presented, except in this case, the 'killer' is the mysterious illness and the objective is to find the cure.
There must be some grain of truth in what happens during these medical themed shows, or else they would be called out by real doctors for misleading viewers. I understand that due to time constraints, lab test results and operations that would normally take hours and days to process take only minutes in the show, so this inaccuracy can be overlooked.
I singled out medical themed shows since the field of medicine does not have as much room for alternative solutions. In legal or law enforcement dramas, the law is subject to various interpretations, and the behavior of the antagonist can be manipulated by the shows writers. There is more freedom on how a legal drama can turn out. In medicine, a sickness is a sickness, and more often than not, even though there can be different symptoms, there is only one illness that can be attributed to all of the symptoms that a patient exhibits.
If someone can enlighten me, I would appreciate it as this question has been on my mind for quite some time now...
It amazes me how quickly the 'doctors' can not only diagnose an illness but recommend treatment. It has led me to this question: Do real doctors watching these shows play along with the show and try to diagnose the patients illness?
It is similar to a murder mystery where viewers try to guess who the killer is based on the clues presented, except in this case, the 'killer' is the mysterious illness and the objective is to find the cure.
There must be some grain of truth in what happens during these medical themed shows, or else they would be called out by real doctors for misleading viewers. I understand that due to time constraints, lab test results and operations that would normally take hours and days to process take only minutes in the show, so this inaccuracy can be overlooked.
I singled out medical themed shows since the field of medicine does not have as much room for alternative solutions. In legal or law enforcement dramas, the law is subject to various interpretations, and the behavior of the antagonist can be manipulated by the shows writers. There is more freedom on how a legal drama can turn out. In medicine, a sickness is a sickness, and more often than not, even though there can be different symptoms, there is only one illness that can be attributed to all of the symptoms that a patient exhibits.
If someone can enlighten me, I would appreciate it as this question has been on my mind for quite some time now...
posted by Vince @ 7:52 AM
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