inside anatomy : seattle resident tells all
When I first saw ABC’s advertisments for Grey’s Anatomy, way back in the olden days of Spring 2005, I hoped that a local surgical resident would eventually weigh in on the authenticity of the show [mb]. A few dozen recaps later, and my wish has come true. Well, not really, but I did stumble across this weblog posting from a Seattle-area resident who has exposed the inaccuracies in the television drama’s depiction of hospital life:
>> I have never seen an African-American attending physician–of any specialty–at the Seattle Grace Hospital analogue. I only know of one African-American resident. He’s not a surgeon.>> I have not slept with any of my attendings. (Although there is still time, I suppose.)
>> I don’t wear make-up. Just like the vast majority of the female surgery interns and residents (who still remain in the minority of surgery residents).[intueri]
She doesn’t mention anything about the lack of extra-dimensional geography or the absence of insane rainstorms; so at least we know that some aspects of the show are true to life.
As much as I like Grey’s Anatomy as an entertainment vehicle, I never really gave any thought as to its authenticity. To me, it’s just a TV show, so I don’t care if these things happen in “real life” anyway.
yeah, after the first episode it was clear that it was more entertainment than real life tales of the o.r.. I’m sure that it would be kind of boring if it was super-accurate anyway.
Wait, so Harborview is the analogue for Seattle Grace? Weird, I always thought it was UWMC, since that’s where the surgical specialty clinics are. Hmm.
I’m a surgery resident at UW. I don’t know any African American attendings, but there are a couple surgical residents. Seattle Grace has the feel of a community hospital, so the analogue would be Virginia Mason or Swedish. Harborview is nothing like that.
I’ve never seen Gray’s Anatomy but I have been to Harborview a number of times. I’m pretty sure no one there has time to be having affairs.
I agree. “Seattle Grace” seems way too fancy to be modeled after Harborview.