Grey’s Anatomy is one of primetime television’s most popular TV shows, its 12th season about to premiere in a couple of weeks. The storyline follows the lives of the surgeons working at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in Seattle, WA. The show is introduced with the main characters starting their first year as surgical interns, and the show progresses through the rest of their residency until they finally become attendings.
It’s an ongoing joke between Grey’s Anatomy fans that these doctors have the most dangerous jobs in the world. These doctors have been subjected to deadly events such as: a plane crash, jumping in front of a bus, getting cancer, a shooter in the hospital, a bomb, and almost drowning, and more. The show’s executive producer and creator, Shonda Rhimes, has also gotten several threats throughout the years after killing off many fan favorite characters, particularly after (SPOILER ALERT) Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd’s death.
However, despite all these unlikely events happening to the same group of people, there are other common medical terms and events occurring on every episode as the doctors treat patients every day. I’ve watched the show multiple times (I’m a huge fan, obviously) and while watching the doctors treat their patients and operate, I’ve always wondered if the show is actually medically accurate or if these procedures and operations are as unlikely as some of the other storylines.
I did some research, and found an article online that explores some of these questions. One of the ongoing storylines in Grey’s Anatomy deals with Alzheimer’s disease. The disease has personally affected Dr. Meredith Grey, the main character. Her mother died from it, and in one of the later seasons she has genetic testing done to see if she has the genetic markers for Alzheimer’s. According to the Boston Magazine article, “TV show writers and producers ask doctors and other experts for information through the Hollywood, Health & Society program at USC.” For storylines such as this one, the show writers contacted Dr. Ting Wu from Harvard Medical School, and asked her questions in order to make the storylines as believable as possible.
Other sources, however, state that Grey’s Anatomy is extremely inaccurate when it comes to running a hospital, specifically in instances related to organ donation. In one of the earlier seasons, “Dr. Cristina Yang, a then surgical intern, tactlessly asks a dead patient’s wife for her husband’s organs just minutes after he died, so another patient could get them.” Another instance includes one of the doctors, Izzie Stevens, getting involved with one of her patients and cutting his LVAD wire so he would get bumped up the organ donor’s list. When Dr. Stevens’ superiors found out what happened, she merely got suspended.
My final takeaway on this topic is that while the Grey’s Anatomy writers and producers use resources to try and make the medical terms as accurate as possible, their need to dramatize the events makes many of these unlikely. These fictional doctors violate many ethical and standard medical procedures, which wouldn’t happen in real life.
Sources:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2005/09/paging_dr_welby.html
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/32/f4/8a/32f48a557e158b6f268e7d093cf4672b.jpg
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/health/blog/2013/10/03/science-behind-greys-anatomy/
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/7a/78/58/7a7858f915842edfab26b7bbe34f4c0a.jpg
Just like Angelique who commented right above me, I am also a new Greys Anatomy fan. In response to your title, I must say that after watching 8 episodes, the series is no where as medically accurate as it really should be. Now, I am no doctor, nor will I ever be. However, I certainly do pick up on a few of the pieces that just don’t fit together in the puzzle of this show. For example, there was a scenario where a construction worker came into the emergency room because he “accidentally” injected 9 nails into his own skull with a nail gun. How on earth could that ever feasibly happen? The chances of that actually happening in real life is probably less than 1%. This is just a small example that leads me to believe that this show just doesn’t make sense.
Heres a great website that goes in depth explaining a few of the huge mistakes that Greys Anatomy makes throughout the show, therefore making it medically inaccurate.
I just started watching Grey’s Anatomy, and I like it! So I just have to comment on this. I might be a new fan, only a couple of episodes in, but I was wondering the same thing. However, I think you are right. While the tv show seeks professionals in order to be as accurate as possible regarding the medical part of the show, it is still a drama series, which means the information provided is definitely questionable. Furthermore, I was also thinking about how the information provided in Grey’s Anatomy affects people in the real world. How does the show change patients minds about doctors and medical procedures? Does it make them more confident or nervous about the process? I found some information about that at the following link. If you want, take a look! http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2005/09/paging_dr_welby.html
I love Grey’s Anatomy too! I have to agree, though, that it is very inaccurate. I think the biggest reason most people love it so much is because of the nonstop drama that normal people would never go through. I like to live vicariously through it! Do you remember the episode (I think from season 2) where a man and a woman are stuck together because a giant pole went through both of their bodies? I couldn’t help but laugh at that because there is no way they would still be alive if the show was real!