Hoffman, B.L. At al (2016). Use of fictional medical television in health sciences education a systematic review

From Digital Culture & Society

Use of Fictional Medical Television in Health Sciences Education: A Systematic Review Coralie Moscoso

Article 1

Medical TV shows have gain popularity in the past decades. From ER in 1994 to Grey’s Anatomy in the 2000’s, among the general public viewer, medical students and health professionals are the most influenced by these TV shows (Hoffman at al., 2016). A systematic review and Meta-Analyses was done to research the influence these shows have on students in the medical field. In order to make these TV shows more appealing and accurate, as far as doctor consults and operations, medical professionals were hired to teach stars the medical jargon and procedures, without changing the storyline of the show (2016). Research also shows that medical shows are still popular, as shown with the premiere of “Code Black”, which rated first when it premiered in 2015.

This article researched 13 peer-reviewed articles within the criteria of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy awards definition for primetime television drama or comedy series (2016). Questionnaires were given to students in the medical field, such as nursing, residency, attending physicians and graduate epidemiology students to see if there was an association between exposure to medical Tv shows and the outcomes of these students. It was argued that medical TV shows are popular among health professional students, and that content may influence student knowledge, perception and behavioural expectations. It was also argued that students that were shown clips of medical Tv shows in classrooms showed high satisfaction of the class, and a desire to continue participating in learning (2016). Both student knowledge and perception showed increase knowledge of the presented health topics. We can argue that visuals help when learning about theories and procedures in medicine. Students can easily read about heart attack symptoms in their medical books, but if they watch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and see a clip of a patient going into cardiac arrest, they can easily learn the symptoms, or have a better understanding of what they read in their books.

Some of the strengths of this article showed that medical Tv shows help students gain knowledge on their field of study. The articles that were used in the research, helped prove the argument stating that medical tv shows help with the expectations, the behavior and knowledge of medicine that students and attending physicians have about the field of medicine.