One of the biggest shows of the year, Max’s medical drama hits new levels of realism in the genre, experts say, while emphasizing under-discussed issues in American health care.
Forget about dragons, mushroom zombies and stranger things in small town Indiana. The biggest thing on TV right now is “The Pitt,” an old-school medical drama with a new coat of paint.
Set in a Pittsburgh hospital, “The Pitt” shares a creator and star with “ER,” but updates the formula of its landmark predecessor by setting the entire season within one shift for its team of health care professionals. One episode equates to one hour on a very busy shift.
The end result is a bonafide hit for Max that has struck home with audiences, critics and, surprisingly, health care workers. The latter have praised the show for its uncharacteristic level of accuracy in depicting the work of health care professionals, the toll of that work and the issues the modern American health care system faces on a daily basis.
But is “The Pitt” actually the most realistic medical drama ever made, as so many have claimed it is?
“Usually with these medical shows, it’s distractingly inept and everybody would be dead in the hospital,” says Amanda Choflet, dean of Northeastern University’s School of Nursing and an associate clinical professor. “[With ‘The Pitt’] I just keep waiting for them to make a mistake, and they’re not.”
The creative team behind “The Pitt” consulted with real doctors and nurses at every stage of production –– and even placed them in scenes with actors –– to maintain a certain level of authenticity.
While the show doesn’t nail every technical aspect of the emergency room setting, Choflet points out, it depicts the most important elements of the intense, life-or-death work of its characters with a startling level of authenticity and realism. Importantly, she says, “The Pitt” also understands the devil is in the details.
@northeasternglobalnews Is “The Pitt” as accurate of a medical show as fans say? Northeastern health care experts explain what the show gets right about the emergency room. #ThePitt #MedicalShow #TV #Shows #Northeastern #Drama ♬ original sound – NGN
Is “The Pitt” as accurate of a medical show as fans say? Northeastern health care experts explain what the show gets right about the emergency room. #ThePitt #MedicalShow #TV #Shows #Northeastern #Drama
“That episode where the attending physician has to go to the bathroom for 45 minutes and just can’t, it was funny when I was talking with my friends because that’s such a subtle thing,” Choflet says. “You are in a life-or-death situation, you are physically not at your best and you just can’t attend to your own needs because you’re in that situation.”
Outside of the work itself, Leah Prasse, a visiting assistant clinical professor at Northeastern with 26 years of experience as a nurse, says the show also manages to capture the exact kinds of people, both patients and providers, who are a staple of any hospital setting.
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“The charge nurse is just like every ER charge nurse I’ve ever met,” Prasse says. “There are certain patients that we’ve all experienced. … A patient running unclothed down the hall, that kind of stuff. If you’ve worked in a hospital in any capacity for any amount of time, those people are exactly the kind of people you interact with.”
Perhaps the biggest sign that the creators of “The Pitt” have done their homework is the way the show treats its nurses, particularly charge nurse Dana.
Most medical shows depict nurses as glorified assistants who simply take orders and don’t ask questions, says Angela Hosking, dean and CEO of Northeastern University in Charlotte. “The Pitt,” appropriately, treats them as an essential part of the care team.
“I love how they really showcase the level of expertise of [Dana] and how she runs the show,” Hosking says. “She has a level of awareness of everything that’s happening with each of the physicians and a level of hyper vigilance and oversight that is so key to running an entire unit. It can be undervalued and overlooked.”
Across its 15-episode first season, “The Pitt” also tackled the kind of contemporary issues in the American health care system that often don’t get airtime. From nurse shortages and the “Dr. Google” phenomenon to violence against health care workers, the show does not shy away from the most pressing health policy issues of our time.
However, the emphasis on the mental health of providers, and how it intersects with substance use, is perhaps most vital, Choflet says.
“They’re just showing one shift –– a lot of providers work three shifts in a row,” Choflet says. “Imagine that level of stress three days in a row, four weeks a month, 12 months a year and how that unmitigated grief of unresolved stress or anxiety builds up over time.”
Choflet’s own research has shown that there’s an elevated risk of suicide for health care providers. As for substance use among providers, Prasse says it is “way more common than the public knows.”
By approaching its characters with empathy, even those who have substance use issues, “The Pitt” shines a light on issues that are still relatively taboo among health care providers. “The Pitt” allows its doctors and nurses to be human –– to fall and get back up –– in the aftermath of a pandemic that saw trust in the health care system and its workers plummet.
For people like Hosking, beyond the show’s technical accuracy is an emotional accuracy that highlights what attracted people like her to the health care profession in the first place. Watching “ER” was what first led Hosking to switch career paths later in life and become a nurse. She’s hopeful “The Pitt” will do the same.
“[‘The Pitt’] will be an opportunity for a new generation to see firsthand what it really means to go into health care and inspire them to go into health care,” Hosking says.