Media attention has sidetracked already from the suspense of the crime shows to the thrill of medical themed programs. There are many shows that are themed with medicine or the healthcare practice and most of them have a story line that revolves around the characters that are nurses, doctors, and other medical practitioners. This does not include some shows that portray cosmetic surgery like Nip Tuck.

Often you watch this man limping through corridors and speaking softly albeit cruelly to his patients. He has that unshaved beard and moustache and always don his all time favorite crane to aide him in walking. He often not the type that wears medical scrubs and lab coats in his office rather he likes simple jeans, a shirt and a dark coat. He often gives patients candies instead of real medicines. He soundly offers berating comments and arguments on his patients and even on fellow practitioners. Yes. He is none other than your favorite physician, Dr. Gregory House. House is just one of the many medical themed shows on TV that are mostly loved by fans but often criticized by real practitioners and the print media. Among the famous medical themed shows that portrays the doctors and nurses are Grey’s Anatomy, Nurse Jackie, ER, and Mercy, among others shares the same consequences.

In 2008, a research was conducted on medical students and nursing students alike to know how the TV series affects their perception of the field of studies they have chosen to continue. The research was conducted by Berman Institute of Bioethics at John Hopkins University showed that 76% of medical students and 65% of nursing students actually watch Dr. House. However, the same survey suggests that many among those interviewed is not happy how Grey’s Anatomy portrays doctors in a rather unprofessional conducts. The study showed the 80% of nursing students and 73% of medical students are tag along the fictional portrayals in the said TV medical drama.

With the said studies that was published in the American Journal of Bioethics made a great impact to students, they again conducted a follow up research just recently to know the glitches in the medical practices shown in the TV programs from the real thing. It was after taking in consideration the fact that the viewers of these programs aren’t just nurses or doctors who can understand the medical terms and ethical procedures but that these are also viewed by patients who does not have any knowledge of the profession at all. They believed that the inconsistencies and wrong portrayals will affect doctor and patient relation.

In the follow up research, they have viewed the episodes of the programs and reviewed the medical depictions and checked whether it really conformed to the real score. They found out that 43% of the shows the characters acted in such a way patterned to the codes of conducts of medical professionals while the 57% was purely out of the mark.

Issues about ethical consideration and professionalism portrayed in these shows stems up like mushrooms and the academe and the media has observed a rather negative view. These studies and researches about the perception of students and professionals about the said TV reveal how it affects the medical profession in reality and how it poses effects to patients Whereas the defense would be that the TV medical dramas were purely a work of fiction it does not proved that their episodes does not affect patients’ overall view to medical workers.