Scrubs 5 Things It Got Right About A Doctor’s Life (& 5 Things It Got Wrong)

Scrubs: 5 Things It Got Right About A Doctor’s Life (& 5 Things It Got Wrong)

Scrubs is seen as a comedy show that also portrays the most accurate depiction of the medical profession. But how much does it really get right?

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There does not seem to be much argument when it comes to the most medically accurate show of all time. While there are your obvious dramatic giants that are known to everyone, by most accounts, it has become pretty known that Scrubs is not only one of the finest comedy shows of all time, but one that gets seen as the most accurate depiction of the medical profession.

Scrubs is a zany comedy and plays like a live-action cartoon a lot of the time. But, based on creator Bill Lawrence’s real-life doctor friend J.D., that does not take away from how phenomenal it is, or how ironically realistic it is, even if it is not perfect.

10 Right – Dealing With Death

Unlike some medical shows, patients in Scrubs die. A lot. But, as doctors, they cannot let it affect their day-to-day work. Even though, at times, it does.

By all accounts, the way people do die, the way there is no magical medical cure for every basic disease, and how the doctors, nurses, and staff have to deal with constant death is something Scrubs does very well.

9 Wrong – The Comedic Overlap

It cannot get said that comedy in the show is wrong, or massively takes away from the accuracy of a doctor’s lives, but some moments just are not realistic, even if they help make the show fantastic.

Bowling patients, bedpan races, wheelies on wheelchairs, doctors getting strapped to the ceiling of the cafeteria by other doctors, and an underground canal system with a manatee called Julian who did not exchange pleasantries, they are all small moments of hilarity that would not realistically happen.

8 Right – The Self-Doubt & Self-Reflection

A big part of Scrubs is J.D. and the other characters growing up in a hospital and dealing with a whole plethora of issues. Self-doubt when it comes to the individual and their career, and self-reflection on everything they go through.

A google search shows that this is one of the biggest things to come up when talking about the accuracy of the show. As doctors progress through being an intern to a resident, etc. the constant looming doubt is there about not actually knowing anything, and the peel of self-reflection that comes with that.

7 Wrong – People Not Getting Fired

This is something that comes from the current day hindsight of the show. It does a great job in handling issues related to race, LGBTQ issues (sometimes), etc. but the fact some people are still employed makes no sense by today’s standards.

Specifically, the Todd who, while entirely hilarious, is nothing short of a predator most of the time, continually harassing women, and later men in the workplace. Also, the fact Doug managed to hold onto his job is nothing short of a miracle. People do get fired, like Jason or ‘Townsy,’ but realistically, there should have been more.

6 Right – First Day & First Procedures

There are some great resources to look at for the accuracy of Scrubs, such as Reddit, Quora, and general google searches. Still, Youtube also comes into play, specifically for the first episode.

By all accounts by “Dr. Hope’s Sick Notes'” watch of the first episode, the early days of J.D. and company were bang on. From medical procedures, fear on your first days, not knowing anything, forming relationships, it was all completely accurate.

5 Wrong – Abuse Of The Janitor

This point ties in with the point about people not getting fired, but while terrible doctors and sexual assault are things that generally do happen in the workplace, the Janitor is not.

A lot of it is pretty inoffensive, and all of it is hilarious with Neil Flynn’s hilarious portrayal. But, the Janitor’s abuse of J.D. specifically with instances of physical harm, kidnapping, and destruction of property are all things you just would not see.

4 Right – The Medical Realism

Perhaps the most significant issues with medical dramas that have come and gone are the actual medical cases themselves. Always some grand case that three people get a year worldwide with some miracle cure that comes at the last minute. Scrubs does not have this.

There are a couple of rare cases, but they get done realistically. This is due to Bill Lawrence and the writing team consulting with medical professionals and usually taking the best stories to focus on, such as the lightbulb in the rear end, or Tracy dying of rabies with her organs getting given to three different patients. The medical cases are usually realistic and straightforward, like cancer, pneumonia, and stuff like that. The drama comes from the characters, not the cases.

3 Wrong – Exaggerations

Scrubs is a comedy, though, and only a thirty-minute TV comedy at that. Therefore a lot of stuff is exaggerated for TV. Just look at Tracy’s death, the real story of that actually seen her organs go to three separate hospitals.

These exaggerations do not massively affect the day-to-day life of a doctor in terms of accuracy. Still, in reality, there is not much in Scrubs that is massively inaccurate, but these small exaggerations seen throughout the show are.

2 Right – General Day-To-Day, Training, & Progression

One thing that anyone can see as a flaw of other medical shows that plays into Scrubs’ favor is the realistic nature of a doctor’s day-to-day life, the daily workings of a hospital, the training they go through, and their progression up the medical ladder.

It is noted multiple times throughout Scrubs that the doctors do not spend much time at bedsides of patients, do a lot of paperwork, do not get a lot of spare time, and have a lot of debt. The training from intern to a resident to attending is also praised universally for its accuracy both for how you get treated and how you learn.

On top of all that, Scrubs has a wide array of various characters in different departments that you just do not see in other shows. There are physicians, surgeons, nurses, dermatologists, radiologists, OBGYN’s, plastic surgeons, pediatricians, receptionists, even a gift-shop girl, as well as all the stereotypes that go along with them. A lot of shows just have the same doctor do all these things in one day.

1 Wrong – Not Telling The Patient When You Do Something Wrong

In the first episode, Scrubs is almost perfect in terms of accuracy, but one scene standout like a sore thumb, legal orientation. The actual induction happening is entirely accurate.

However, when Ted tells everyone not to say to patients when something goes wrong, unless they are dead, at which point it is okay. This is totally inaccurate, and every normal person can see that never mind to people in the medical profession. It is, however, a moment of black comedy.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/scrubs-realistic-doctor-portrayal-vs-not-medicine-comedy-bill-lawerence/

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