ArticleFrontiers in public health2024
TV medical dramas: assessing the portrayal of public health in primetime.
Article in Frontiers in public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Unveiling the narrative: Italian media's role in shaping public health messaging during COVID-19 - A corpus-assisted discourse analysis.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Disparities in educational service quality among medical students in Iran's revised medical curriculum: A cross-sectional study in a resource-limited region.Journal of education and health promotion · 2026Article
- Balto: comedic representation of medical professionals in TV drama.Philosophy, ethics, and humanities in medicine : PEHM · 2025Article
- Impact of News Portrayals of Physicians as Vulnerable on the Public's Evaluation and Trust in Physicians Under Different Involvement Levels: Quantitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: The influence of medical dramas could extend beyond the realm of entertainment and potentially strengthen/orient the knowledge, attitudes and hopefully practice of health professionals and the public, despite often depicting unrealistic medical outcomes and scenarios. Methods: This study examined the portrayal of public health issues in two popular international medical series, "Grey's Anatomy" and "House, MD," selected for their awards and viewership ratings. Individual episodes were double-rated by clinicians for patient characteristics, public health issues, and infection risk management. Results: 94 episodes with 286 clinical cases were analyzed. A wide range of conditions and pathologies were depicted, with a focus on acute clinical events, trauma and mental disorders, which contrasts with real-life causes of hospitalization and highlight the dramatization in these series. Public health issues such as organ donation and substance abuse were frequently addressed, but prevention and health promotion received little attention. Proper use of personal protective equipment was mostly observed, although hand hygiene was underrepresented. Conclusion: The study highlights the dual role of medical dramas as an entertainment medium and a potential educational tool. While they can raise awareness and encourage healthier behavior, their portrayal of medical practices and patient care often deviates from reality and can create unrealistic expectations. The influence of these dramas also extends to viewers' perceptions of healthcare and medical professionals, underscoring the need for accurate and responsible portrayal of health issues in the media.
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