A fascinating survey on Medpage Today reveals that daytime soaps may be better for public health than prime-time drama. Contrast this comment,
…a huge impact is actually being made by daytime TV- namely soap operas. When shows such as General Hospital or Days of Our Lives tackle subjects such as breast cancer or HIV, the number of people seeking care and screening actually goes up. Viewers are encouraged to talk to thier doctors openly rather than be passive participants in thier health care.”
With this:
I trained at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, IL – the supposed setting for the show E.R. (third busiest E.R. in the USA) and I was lucky if I had a chance to go to the bathroom let alone socialize with the staff. Very entertaining, but unrealistic. They were seeing the rarest cases on a daily basis and doing procedures normally deferred to medical / surgical specialties. I agree that the lay public was believing that every code blue survived and expected it in real life…”
Psychiatry, on the other hand, appears to be the Rodney Dangerfield of TV medicine. As one psychiatrist notes:
I find the portrayal of psychiatrists on TV appalling, even if I love the show. “Frazier” was the best show with the worst portrayal of psychiatry ever. And one other thing, I once, during an initial eval had a patient ask me if I, or anyone else in my practice did ” . . . what Dr. Phil does.” I think that about says it all.”
For more, including whether everyone in the real ER is sleeping with one another, check out the survey.
