Guest posting by Sarah Bakhiet
A friend was recently raving about the medical television series “Grey’s Anatomy” and how it had saved her grade on an Immunology exam. The question that had earned her the two extra points needed for an A was on a fairly new practice in medicine called domino surgery, a concept she could only remember from an episode aired months prior to the exam but not from her notes. In her case, following Grey’s Anatomy for the past eleven seasons had finally provided her more than just drama-filled entertainment.
While popular medical shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, House, and ER are based on solving fascinating medical cases, viewers are attracted by the juicy story lines that aim to show doctors in a different light. With the millions of viewers that tune in each week to watch medical dramas, a question remains unanswered: in which ways do these shows shape the views and actions of patients regarding healthcare?
A persistent theme in our Medical Media Arts Lab has been the benefits of patient engagement in their own medical care. The role of technology and media in healthcare has been rapidly increasing, allowing patients to be more connected to their healthcare providers than ever before and to have access to vast amounts of medical information. However, does fictional television play any role in promoting public health and producing patients that are interested in their own healthcare? One positive outcome of medical shows is that they portray the emotional challenges of being a physician. As a result, viewers are more likely to see doctors in a positive light, thus improving their satisfaction as patients themselves (Beck, 2014). Whether this could lead to patients who are more willing to seek healthcare and be involved with their physicians is yet to be determined.
In addition to improving viewer’s attitudes towards physicians, research has shown that health information may be remembered better when it is introduced through fictional media. A study published in the Human Communication Research journal found that college-age women were more likely to commit to using birth control regularly after watching a drama on teen pregnancy compared to women who simply watched a news report on teen pregnancy (O’Callaghan, 2010). By exposing viewers to positive health practices and increasing awareness on health risks in a memorable way, medical shows may have the power to promote public health to millions of people.
However, fictional medical series have been criticized for including medical inaccuracies and possibly dangerous treatments. For the sake of show ratings, medical shows are known to include life-threatening conditions much more often than less fatal conditions, such as diabetes or asthma. This creates a disproportional impression of the likelihood of developing dangerous medical conditions in real life. Although viewers are aware that shows are dramatized, they are still vulnerable to being influenced by inaccurate medical information that they are exposed to on a long-term basis. While medical shows have the potential to improve patient attitudes towards healthcare providers and to distribute valuable information on a large scale, the portrayal of faulty medical facts must first be removed in order to make a positive impact on viewers.
[1] http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/healthcare-in-the-time-of-greys-anatomy/379087/
[2] http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1978591-2,00.html