Dissecting the Perceptions Gained from Televised Medical Drama - Grey's Anatomy - Assignment Example

Dissecting the Perceptions Gained from Televised Medical Drama Lecturer: Content page. Introduction………………………………………………………………… 3 Grey’sAnatomy…………………………………………………………….. 4 Positive and negative effects of Grey’s Anatomy…………………………….. 6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 8 Introduction. More than ever before, the media has a great impact on the manner in which people perceive issues. Popular TV shows have distorted the opinions of viewers on politics, beauty, disease etc. medical dramas are TV shows acted in a medical environment with fictional characters practicing medicine entangled in a series of stories. What implications does the heavy watching of medical drama series have on people’s perception of doctors in the real medical environment? Several surveys have revealed that public attitudes toward medical professionals are influenced by TV shows portrayals and that heavy viewers have substantial perception effects about patient satisfaction. Viewers have perceptions of doctors and nurses in their mind and they eschew the separation of the characters they see on television and the characters in their personal medical experiences. Whatever they watch on the show they carry it in their mindset and reflect the same responses as the show’s. Other TV shows portray less flattering images of doctors, which seem to affect the patient’s favorable impressions. On the other hand, some of these shows have intrigued people to liking the practice of medicine and a substantial number of viewers would recommend medicine or nursing as a career choice compared to those that do not view the programs. In addition, in frictional television, medical miracles tend to happen more times than in reality. Consequently, people are filled with false hopes due to an altered medical point of view. This perception makes them base their decisions on hope rather than professional medical advice. Grey anatomy The creator of the grey anatomy chose to overlook the important principles of medicine; the primary goal is for the purpose of entertainment. Medical advice and procedures are not key concerns in the shows production. The show develops from the linking of relationships of surgical interns, attending physicians as well as the resident in Seattle Grace hospital. The initial plot focuses on the growth of the personal relationships of the interns and as it, progresses the relationships become more complex. The whole show has most attention on Meredith Grey who is an intern struggling to fit in the shoes of her father [1], a renowned surgeon and thus the name of the show. The doctors are often seen to be competing in many battles, one to get innovative surgeries, to patient’s lives and to relationships. The result is not always affirmative. One battle is lost when Izzie and George fail to save Izzies husband’s life, Alex who is left holding his breath and his life ends in the beginning of the next season. Christina has relationship battles where she harbors fears of losing her on and off boyfriend who has emotional scars from his experiences in Iraq [4]. However, Meredith and George seem to have won their battle in joining as one after they seal their love with vows written on a blue note [4]. Dr Miranda seems to be losing her battles of keeping her husband due to her utter commitment to her career. Grey anatomy can be as complicated as surgery itself but will give viewers the zeal to wait for the next episode. It provides that hospital environment but is still embedded with the day-to-day challenges that we continuously face. Hence, the reader becomes quickly acquainted to the program due to the connection viewers feel with the charcters. Positive and negative effects of grey anatomy Ethnical diversity is presented in the show’s characters as it clearly presents minorities compared to other shows. The show has valiant portrayals of doctors as they are faced with the challenge of making critical decisions like the first five episodes in episode three [1]. Initially, medical shows portrayed doctors as in subordinate and cruel. This shows how doctors are competent and are often on edge to deliver. In the episode of “flight response or deterioration of the fight” there are three concurrent act of courage where Dr Duke is shot proximate to the hospital. Dr. shepherd thereafter struggles removing a bullet from the bullet while at the same time trying to avoid any damage in his nerves that would render him useless in the surgery field [3]. While viewers watch this effort progress, Dr, Adison disheartening task of informing Dr. Richard of the terrible news about the coming back of the niece’s ovarian cancer. At the same time, another struggle is shown when Cristina, Meredith, George and Izzy struggle to ensure that a patient lives after Izzy deliberately cut the man’s LVAD wire so that his chances of receiving a heart transplant quicker could be achieved. In essence in a very short span, the viewers are witness the courage doctors need in their profession. These events depict doctors more as human and not heroes. As a result, the viewer can relate to the show and feel like they have stake to whatever is happening to the doctors [3]. There are however some egregious misrepresentations in the show where first of all nurses are seen to be needless and incompetent as the doctors perform all the critical tasks while nurses just do minor tasks. Nurses are often shown handling procedural paper work or working on computers in the nurse’s station. The nurses have very little interaction with the patients. In the nurses, strike in the three episodes of season two Dr, shepherd wonders who will do his paperwork [3]. In addition, it shows interns performing the activities that nurses ought to perform, this is when Meredith an intern in the first episode defribilises a patient when a number of nurses in the room freeze not knowing what to do [2]. This gives the viewers the wrong impression that nursing is a boring, unrewarding career dominated by administrative tasks where the doctors get to do all the exciting work in the hospitals. The show does not show the viewers the clear part of nursing in a hospital. In the episode named “a hard day’s night” nurses are yet undermined when Karev made a diagnosis of pneumonia on a patient and prescribed antibiotics. When the nurse inquires if he is sure of the medication, he curtly answers that the nurse should have spent the years he spent on medicine school only then could she know if the medication given was right![4] There is no big focus in medicine. The diagnosis and treatment of the ailments is scarcely portrayed. Since the main aim of the show is to attract viewers and not really educate, the directing focuses on the characters, their charisma and majorly the intimate relationships between the characters. In addition, Critics have pointed out that the show is more about the relationships of the doctors with each other and more specifically to the romantic relationships brewing between the characters. The show focuses most of it attention on the personal lives of the characters and gives little time to patient –doctor and surgery occurrences in a bid to gain more acceptance. The show gives the portrays lack of a controlled environment where the doctors are supposed to act professionally and not engage with each other frequently as is depicted. Conclusion The relationships in the show are exaggerated. Too much focus is placed on one sector of life that is the personal relationships developed between the characters. As an entertaining show, the series does achieve the purpose but as a show, that is reflecting the daily life challenges and more so, the activities of a hospital in totality, it does fall short. The attraction of viewers due to it entertainment element feeds them with the conceptions it portrays about medicine as a profession and the events that transpire in a normal busy hospital. Their viewing influences the development of opinions not pertinent in reality. Bibliography. 1. DEMPSEY, P., WASHINGTON, I., KNIGHT, T. R., POMPEO, E., OH, S., & HEIGL, K. (2006). Greys anatomy. Season one. Burbank, CA, Touchstone Home Entertainment. 2. POMPEO, E., et al. (2007). Greys anatomy. Season three. Burbank, Calif, Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment.< http://abc.go.com/shows/greys-anatomy/trivia/960349> 3. POMPEO, E., DEMPSEY, P., OH, S., HEIGL, K., KNIGHT, T. R., WILSON, C., WASHINGTON, I., PICKENS, J., RHIMES, S., & CHAMBERS, J. (2006). Greys anatomy. Complete second season uncut. Burbank, CA, Touchstone Television. < http://abc.go.com/shows/greys-anatomy/trivia-landing> 4. POMPEO, E., et al. (2009). Greys anatomy. Season five. Burbank, Calif, Buena Vista Home Entertainment. < http://abc.go.com/shows/greys-anatomy> Read More