The Effects of Viewing Grey's Anatomy on Perceptions of Doctors and Patient Satisfaction - Essay Example

on how relationships between doctors and patients are portrayed and how interactions between doctors are portrayed in the episode of Grey’s Anatomy. The cultivation theory, which suggests that viewers of TV are influenced to perceive situations in a specific manner (King & Watson, 2012); will be particularly useful for the analysis of whether the perception of doctors and the health industry are influenced after viewing medical dramas. According to Seale (2013), cultivation theorists argue that the boundaries between reality and media portrayals are blurred if viewers watch TV for too long, which means that there is a risk of the viewer being misinformed in their perceptions of the medical fraternity.

Indeed, after an analysis of fifty episodes of the series between 2005 and 2008, it was found that at least 57% of interactions in the shows between patients and doctors did not adhere to real-world professional interactions, while only 5% of the interactions between doctors were realistic. Seeing as shows like Grey’s Anatomy can teach viewers important things about health, it is important that their producers collaborate with bioethicists on the content of the shows. Indeed, medical dramas like Grey’s Anatomy can become important forms of entertainment education.

For instance, rather than dealing with similar diseases and illnesses over and over again, medical shows that deal with a multitude of illnesses that viewers can relate with better would positively influence the perception of viewers (Seale, 2013). According to Harris (2013), majority of those watching primetime TV tend to learn something new when they watch a TV show about health issues and disease after watching the shows for six months, while at least a third of the viewers take action after being informed on a health issue when watching TV.

While watching this episode of Grey’s Anatomy, it is clear that the show consults physicians for accuracy, as can be noted by the medical jargon used in