With TV shows such as Casualty, ER, Greys Anatomy and House, glamorising the whole idea of medicine and doctors, I wondered what life is like for a real life doctor…
Screen medicine
With TV and film selling Medicine with sex, scandal and gore plastered across our screens, there’s no wonder we can’t get enough of hospital dramas. The popular series House, starring Hugh Laurie, portrays a maverick doctor taking on ‘unsolvable’ cases, diagnosing his patients in the strangest of ways, and, for the most part, saving the day. Ok so an idealistic concept this may be but these shows do still outline the core issues and roles relating to Medicine with some realism. House, the dedicated Physician, and his team are good examples of doctors being professional, despite unorthodox approaches to medicine, that clearly make good TV.
House was in fact what first got me interested in pursuing a Medical career and led me to research the options for becoming a doctor. I found that this is perhaps the most varied and vast profession there is. For anyone who’s thinking on the same lines as me, here’s an insight into the medical world…
Which doctor?
To be a doctor you have to complete five years at University studying Medicine and then a further two year foundation period working as a House Officer, (Junior Doctor) before being able to specialise.
Types of doctors…
General Practitioner (GP) – Everyone has their own local surgery and GP. These guys are jacks-of-all-trades, who know a little bit about everything. GP’s either directly treat minor illnesses or problems, or refer patients on to specialists.
Medical Doctor or Physician – these are who you get referred to by your GP. They are experts in their chosen specialism and thus are responsible for suggesting the best individual treatment, such as surgery. Specialisms include Infectious Diseases (one of House’s two specialties), Haematology (blood) and Oncology (Cancer).
Surgeons – These are responsible for cutting us open (nice) and our immediate after care. We’ll rarely see these Docs except briefly before and after an operation. There are loads of different types of surgeons, including: Neuro (you really do have to be a Brain Surgeon for that one!), Cardiothoracic Surgeons (Heart and Chest) and General Surgeons (usually abdomen related)
Doctor Who?
Medical specialisms can roughly be divided up into the following body areas.
Neurology, Neurosurgery and Medical Ophthalmology: deal with the head and brain. Injuries to the head are very complex so these are tough areas. Ophthalmology deals with the eyes. Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy in Greys Anatomy) is a neuro-surgeon.
Cardiology, Cardiothoracic and Respiratory Medicine: deal with the chest, lungs and heart. Connie Beauchamp (Holby City) and Burke (Greys Anatomy) are both CT Surgeons.
Haematology, General Surgery and Gastroenterology: are all specialisms dealing with the abdomen and blood. General Surgeons are very skilled and can perform a range of operations. Haematology deals with blood, whilst Gastroenterology deals with the stomach and bowels. Ric Griffin (Holby City) and Bailey (Greys Anatomy) are both General Surgeons.
Trauma and Orthopaedics: deal with Emergency Medicine. These specialisms deal with life and death situations regularly. These doctors are experts in physical trauma and operate under extreme pressure, where a wrong dose or slip of the scalpel can mean death. The guys in Casualty all deal with Emergency Medicine.
Plastic Surgery and Maxillofacial Surgery: deal with reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. This area is seen as a private luxury for the vain and unhappy, but in reality these surgeons deal with a great deal of reconstructive surgery such as skin grafting from accidents and serious burns. Mark Sloan (Greys Anatomy) is a Plastic Surgeon.
EMERGENCY
Many medical dramas focus on life at the sharp end of Medicine and this intrigues me so I spoke to Dr Tesfayohannes, a Consultant in charge of A&E at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital …
What interested you in becoming a doctor?
I enjoyed the science of it at a younger age, especially Biology and I knew I wanted to work in some kind of health provision system and go to university.
Which of the three sciences is most useful?
In reality, it’s Chemistry. Biology is the one that seems nearest to Medicine but when you start Medical School you realise that the Biology you’ve done has very little relevance to Medicine.
Do you think TV has affected the way people perceive doctors?
In my line of work Causality and ER will tend to pack into one episode what a doctor might see in a busy emergency department in two weeks. The resolution of issues is not quite so quick either.
Which programmes are most realistic?
Casualty is pretty good at storylines and relevant to the nation. It’s a drama so has a lot more in it than reality. I think they must get some good advice from doctors to tell them how a story might unfold.
What’s the satisfaction of working in A&E?
It’s chasing what you think is wrong with the patient, trying to get to a diagnoses to get them to a better state. A&E doesn’t give you the option for seeing patients fully recover because they are either sent home or go under the care of other doctors.
Does anything ever make you question being a doctor?
When someone younger dies. I’ve worked in Children’s Hospitals and that always has a stronger emotional impact. Fortunately it happens rarely. It’s something you’re taught to deal with throughout training. Different doctors deal with it in different ways.
What are the highlights and lowlight of working on A&E?
The highlights are seeing patients recover, delivering the care that you think is optimal and the camaraderie you have with your work colleagues. Lowlights include high stress levels but colleagues are very good at sharing stress and there are formal and informal ways of getting rid of it.
What qualities and skills would young people want to be aware of when considering a medical career?
Good communication and people skills, empathy, and a baseline for academic learning. You have to have the ability to go the long haul, it’s not quick training and you don’t get to the end product for many years.
So why become a doctor?
It might sound like a good question when you see how long you have to train! I’m interested in ending up in A&E, like Dr Tesfayohannes and can imagine the pressure can be immense but I also think the rewards would be well worth it. For me it wouldn’t just be about helping people, although that would be a big factor, it would also be about the buzz of solving puzzles and having the expertise and responsibility to work in life and death situations.
by Peter Scholey