PRAIRIE DOC®
  • Home
  • About
  • People
  • TV
  • Perspective
  • Donate
  • Friends/Sponsors of the Prairie Doc
  • Radio and Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Foundation
  • Prairie Doc Publishing

“Paging Doctor Hollywood”

7/13/2023

 
Prairie Doc Perspective Week of  July 9th, 2023
“Paging Doctor Hollywood”
By Jill Kruse, DO


From Dr. Marcus Welby and Dr. Meredith Grey to “Hawkeye” Pierce and Doogie Howser, MD, there have been a multitude of television doctors.  You likely spend more time watching them than you do with your own physician.  Television shows the life of a doctor as exciting, dramatic and glamorous; however, real life is often much different.  
On television doctors can solve every medical mystery within the span of a single show.  Rare diseases or unusual presentations are no match for the intellect or dedication of the Hollywood doctor.  Experimental treatments or lifesaving surgeries are all done with minimal interference.  Television doctors rarely deal with hospital policies, evidence based medical care standards, or insurance companies. They also seem to have ample extra time between patients.
In the real world, things are not as simple and straightforward as they are on television.  Multiple diseases have similar symptoms and specialized lab tests can take days or weeks to get results. Unfortunately insurance companies often dictate what tests can be done, such as a CT or MRI.  They may also refuse to cover a hospital stay or a new medication, requiring older or cheaper options first.  Doctors are required to spend a significant amount of time charting to justify tests or treatments for insurance companies.  Unfortunately these activities do not make “must see TV” and take significantly more time than what is actually spent with patients.  
On television, almost everyone gets better.  A patient is just a problem that is solved and forgotten by the next episode, likely never seen again.  In real life, many people live with chronic conditions that cannot be fixed or resolved.  Real patients are not problems to be solved, but important partners with their doctors in order to live a healthier lifestyle.  This takes trust; something that is gained slowly over years, and can be broken faster than a commercial break.  
While not as dramatic as television’s life and death surgeries, routine health care in the clinic is just as important.  Television rarely shows a family medicine doctor doing a routine physical or a follow up visit for high blood pressure or diabetes.  There is very little drama in adjusting a medication dose in the clinic.  However, these visits will keep you from experiencing television worthy complications down the road.
You can look for a doctor as funny as Patch Adams, as smart as House, or as good looking as McDreamy.  However, what is important is that you find a doctor that you communicate well with and trust.  An annual physical and routine health care may seem boring and unnecessary, but it can help prevent some real life health care problems.  Save the drama for your television. 

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Subscribe to Newsletter
Picture
PRAIRIE DOC® MEDIA IS A PART OF HEALING WORDS FOUNDATION.

Healing Words Foundation logo
  • Home
  • About
  • People
  • TV
  • Perspective
  • Donate
  • Friends/Sponsors of the Prairie Doc
  • Radio and Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Foundation
  • Prairie Doc Publishing