10 Medical Drama Tropes That Would Never Happen In Real Life

There are plenty of tropes in medical dramas that, realistically, would never happen in real life. The best medical dramas of all time are typically medically rate, although there are always gaps in the writers’ knowledge, and not everything that is put into the story is correct. TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Chicago Med, The Resident, and House all fuel these tropes, and while they’re great for making the story more dramatic, they wouldn’t actually happen in the real world.

Although these shows often have medical professionals as consultants, there are some issues with their respective stories. These titles depict the world of medicine and working at a hospital as a much different experience than the reality, which not only spreads misinformation, but it also gives viewers false expectations. While medical dramas are fantastic to watch, it’s worth noting that many of their tropes are inaccurate.

10. Breaking The Rules & Regulations Of Medical Practice

Protocols Often Fly Out The Window

It’s not unusual for medical dramas to constantly break medical practice regulations. This usually only occurs in order to save someone’s life, although in reality, these rules are in place for the safety of patients, and breaking them is more likely to put someone’s life at risk than help them. This is one of the things that happen in every episode of House, for example. Without fail, House clashes with a patient and does something out of the box to try to find a cure, and although this makes him look like a medical Sherlock Holmes, it’s highly unprofessional.

Grey’s Anatomy is guilty of this on several occasions. For example, in season 2, George loses Ellis Grey, who has Alzheimer’s, multiple times around the hospital. Meredith also revives a DNR patient, which is a wildly terrible thing for a medical professional to do, especially when they have purposely decided that they don’t want to be resuscitated. There are lots of medical drama tropes that don’t happen in real life, but this is the most important one.

9. Instant Test Results

Real Hospitals Don’t Generate Results Out Of Thin Air

While the fact that many hospital dramas suddenly have the results of a test can be blamed on editing, it can only be used as an excuse to a certain extent. It’s common in medical TV shows for doctors or nurses to immediately get their hands on the information they’re after, and while this helps the story progress quickly, it’s not very realistic. Instances like this happen all the time in shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Chicago Med, and House, for example.

The main issue with this trope is that it suggests that hospitals really work this quickly. Of course, most viewers are aware that this isn’t the case, but more impressionable audiences can easily believe that their doctor can find a solution to their issue at a moment’s notice. A standard, routine blood test takes up to 72 hours to come back, but in hospitals, it’s usually only a few hours. However, even this is a vague time scale, as it depends on several other factors.

8. The Doctors And Nurses Constantly Hooking Up

Most Medical Professionals Don’t Have Time For A Rendezvous

A lot of medical dramas depict the various professionals as sex-obsessed, and because of their strict jobs and limited schedules, they hook up with one another out of convenience. While this happens on several shows, Grey’s Anatomy is the most notable for doing this. From the first episode, it’s established that Grey Sloan’s workers sleeping together is the norm when audiences see Meredith realize Derek is her new boss.Alex Karev is another character who is constantly having sex with his coworkers.

While the interconnecting romantic relationships in these types of shows add to the drama, it’s nonsensical.

One of the worst things Karev does in Grey’s Anatomy is when he gives syphilis to Nurse Olivia, who, in turn, gives it to George. While the interconnecting romantic relationships in these types of shows add to the drama, it’s nonsensical. Although some real medical professionals meet their significant other through work, most of the time, they don’t have the opportunity to sneak off for an on-call room hook up, or they have no interest in having relations with someone they spend days at a time with.

7. A Doctor Falling In Love With Their Patient

A Doctor-Patient Love Story Is Incredibly Unprofessional

Whether it progresses during care or after, it’s still a baffling moment when a doctor-patient relationship develops in a medical drama. Several shows feature a couple like this, such as Chase and Moira in House, for example. Chase is removed from Moira’s case once he reveals they slept together, but in reality, he should be fired for this.

Although nothing culminates from this, it’s still wild that it happens in the first place. The ultimate example of this, however, is Izzie and Denny in Grey’s Anatomy. Izzie’s love for Denny transcends unprofessionalism, and while their love story is deeply emotional, it’s still a controversial storyline.

There are several instances in which Izzie Stevens should have been fired in Grey’s Anatomy, but this one stands out because of how shocking it is, let alone the fact she breaks dozens of rules in the process and faces little repercussions. In reality, a majority of doctors wouldn’t dream of getting involved with a patient, as it’s simply not worth losing their medical license over.

6. Working With A Substance Issue

Drugs And Alcohol Don’t Work With Medical Procedures

A lot of medical TV shows see characters turn up to work under the influence of a substance, hungover, or secretly hiding an addiction, but treat these storylines as simply dramatic plots and nothing else. Of course, any medical professional needs to be free of any substance before working with a patient, but in the medical drama world, there seems to be more leeway.

Every season of House is guilty of this, as the titular character’s addiction to pills is always present in some way or another. Nurse Jackie also does this, and despite her hiding her dependency on painkillers, she somehow manages to keep doing her job.

Grey’s Anatomy’s Richard Webber has a whole character arc that delves into his battle with alcoholism, and this causes him to lose his position as Chief for a short time. Although anyone can be susceptible to a substance issue, most medical professionals are on the ball and stay away from drugs and drink, especially when they are working. Even if they are caught, there’s no way they keep practicing medicine.

5. Coincidentally Looking After A Loved One

There Are Lots Of Factors To Where A Patient Is Placed

While it’s not completely unrealistic that a doctor may have to care for a friend or family, a lot of medical dramas depict it happening far more than it actually happens. The term “conflict of interest” seemingly isn’t relevant in these shows, although this is usually justified by a character needing to take action out of frustration.

For example, it’s wildly coincidental that T.R. Knight’s George O’Malley is looked after by his colleagues in Grey’s Anatomy after he is hit by a bus. While it isn’t impossible for him to go to Grey Sloan, there are some logical issues. The stars really need to align for George to end up in the care of those he works closest with, especially as there are so many doctors and nurses there.

Plus, it’s hard to know whether the nearest hospital is actually Grey Sloan, or if Grey’s Anatomy brings him there simply for the story. There are loads of examples of this in Grey’s Anatomy, but other shows often see the arrival of figures from a character’s past, even though there isn’t a justifiable reason why they’d end up in their care.

4. A Doctor Becomes An Unexpected Patient At Their Own Hospital

It’s Strange So Many Doctors Are Treated By Their Colleagues

A lot of medical dramas take place in the emergency room, which is how these titles get around the logistics of different hospital departments and tackle various illnesses, but it’s still odd when a doctor character ends up being treated at their place of employment. Although this could be because of insurance reasons, or simply because they trust their colleagues more, medical TV shows never seem to send their unwell characters anywhere else other than their own hospital.

Grey’s Anatomy does this all the time, and the likes of Meredith, Webber, and Cristina all end up at Grey Sloan. Chicago Med also sees this in season 8, although it’s hilarious to see Kai’s ego take a hit when Marcel takes the case. While there are some instances in which this makes sense, like when Lauren Bloom becomes a patient as the New Amsterdam ambulance crash that kills Georgia Goodwin is already on route to the hospital, several shows make out that employees always receive medical attention on their home turf.

3. Giving Birth In A Crisis

Nobody In A Medical Drama Has A Baby On A Normal Day

Of course, it’s rather boring for the story if a character gives birth to a baby under normal circumstances, but it’s still surprising how often someone goes into labor during a chaotic event in a medical drama. For example, in Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith gives birth in the middle of a storm, which coincidentally stops her from having a C-section. It’s a very similar situation with Bailey’s story, too, although the crisis this time is that her husband is undergoing neurosurgery, and she is stuck with George as a birthing partner.

Lots of things can go wrong when giving birth, but a hospital-wide or deeply personal catastrophe isn’t as common as these shows let audiences believe. Even less dramatic examples of this, like in This is Going to Hurt when the ceiling collapses and there are initially no other rooms available, seem a little ridiculous, even for a show that is based on a real doctor’s experiences.

2. Immediately Arriving On The Scene

Doctors And Nurses Can’t Teleport

One of the harshest realities of these kinds of TV shows is that the response times for medical attention is nowhere near as quick as what is depicted on-screen. Unfortunately, patients wait hours in hospitals for answers, and ambulances don’t always arrive within minutes of being called. This is a common complaint among audiences of The Resident, for example.

Although this has a lot to do with the editing of an episode and how moving characters around so rapidly adds to the tension of the story, in reality, it’s not this simple.

Dr. Hawkins often tells a patient he is with them throughout the whole process, but he also seems to be everywhere all at once, and it makes no sense that he can be on multiple teams simultaneously. Grey’s Anatomy’s main characters seem to change in and out of their scrubs after surgery ridiculously quickly, and while it’s logical if they’re in a rush to start a procedure, it’s odd that they’re so fast, considering all the handwashing they have to do.

Although this has a lot to do with the editing of an episode and how moving characters around so rapidly adds to the tension of the story, in reality, it’s not this simple. Real-life hospital workers would love for this to be true, but unfortunately, the process is more time consuming than it appears on TV.

1. Doctors Spending Days At A Patient’s Bedside

There Isn’t Enough Time In A Day

While there are some patients that medical professionals likely wish they could spend all their time with, it’s not logical or realistically possible. Medical dramas often see a character take a liking to a particular patient or become overly involved in solving their case, and so they end up sitting at their bedside for hours upon hours.

Although nothing is stopping these workers from doing this after their shift ends, they usually want to go home and sleep after working for sometimes days at a time. Plus, it breaches the professionalism of a doctor-patient relationship massively. A great example of this is in Grey’s Anatomy season 21. After a terrible crash that kills Chloe, Mika is admitted to Grey Sloan with her injuries.

Everyone hovers around Mika’s bedside, when they really should be off saving lives or just taking a well-deserved break, although this can be attributed to her guilt over surviving. What’s so strange about this medical drama trope, however, is that there is no consistency. There are plenty of profound stories heard by the doctors, yet the ones that hit the hardest are often random.