IMPACT OF MEDICAL FICTIONS ON LIVES

 

CAUTION: THIS BLOG IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY

The heading itself raises several questions, first being what are medical fictions? The television shows / movies/ YouTube series. Which illustrate important aspects of medical training such as doctor patient relationship, professionalism, ethical conflicts , struggles  and much more.

The second question which arises in our mind is why do we need to use medicine in fictions ?The diverse reasons for using medicine in fiction include the social importance of disease and suffering as human experiences , the impact of medical discoveries on health, training of health care professionals  and general perception of physicians as distinguished professionals.

Since the last 60 years medical series have often portrayed physicians and medicine. Few examples being Dr.kildare (1961-1966) , Grey’s anatomy,  Scrubs , House M.D., Operation M.B.B.S  and many more. The medical fictions have impacted the lives of many people on a much larger spectrum .Everyone has at least one story that will stop your heart. Here’s one that might inspires, makes people laugh or binge on more and more medical fictions.

A girl is in 11^th standard, she starts watching a medical drama known as Grey’s anatomy.  The show starts with surgical interns and with a quote stated by the chief of surgery “Each of you comes here hopeful, wanting in on the game . A month ago, you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today you are the doctors. The seven years you spend here is as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you say hello to your competition. 8 of you will switch to an easier specialty 5 of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play it, that’s up to you. “

 

Doesn’t this makes your heart beat a little faster? Yes it does. If we understand the true essence of this dialogue, then it is just harsh reality. Now, she knew there is cut throat competition in the field of medicine. Telling her that hard work, hours of study and numerous numbers of sleepless nights are just the basic requirements. That young girl is now more determined & focused towards her goal. After two years she had entered a medical college on her first attempt. She realizes she is no one. She realizes all the 150 students of M.B.B.S 1^st year are at the same level. So what makes everyone different? Not the names, not the appearance, not the social background. The only thing that makes a difference in the field of medicine is the knowledge and skill.

Now, no one can acquire a skill through fiction. But one acquires the knowledge and the knowledge about the skill. She knew what was BLS, Neonatal jaundice, intubation, sutures, different anatomical terms ,  names of different drugs , names of different screenings and much more. The most important she never felt nauseous or uncomfortable while doing the dissection always the first one to run to cadaver in the dissection hall. The medical fiction had impacted her life in a very beautiful way. She was a little ahead of her classmates. She grasped things faster as the medical fiction that she binged watched on focused on various medical topics. Therefore she knew about most of the medical terms even though it might just be names. Now her dream is to hold a scalpel in an OR and say it’s a beautiful day to save lives.

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Blog Writers 

Pawani Goel 

Mayo Institute Of Medical Sciences 

Radhika Awasthi 

Rama Medical College