Surgical Shenanigans
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14 T V R e v i e w By Dr Oh Jen Jen, Editorial Board Member Surgical Shenanigans “I don’t need to watch ‘The O.C.’, but it makes me happy.” – House, M.D. ne could say the same about Grey’s the year’s hottest newcomer and Emmy darling, Anatomy, the latest medical series Lost, in the Nielsen ratings. O to hit local television. Combining To be honest, Grey’s Anatomy does not exactly the pounding excitement of ER, soap opera offer anything new or particularly exciting. In antics of General Hospital and quirkiness fact, each episode appears to follow a to-do list of of Scrubs and Chicago Hope, the result is a items which get dutifully ticked off. For instance: roller-coaster ride of over-the-top dramatics, 1. kooky patients – check mawkish narratives and frequent bedroom 2. interns fighting tooth and nail to scrub in for romps. mind-blowing operations – check Guaranteed to ruffle a few feathers and 3. at least one defibrillation scene (never mind raise a couple of eyebrows, it has succeeded that the patient is in asystole) – check admirably despite its flaws. Sandra Oh (who 4. nudity (or some measure of it) – double check plays Dr Cristina Yang) recently won Golden 5. sexual tension – triple check Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards for 6. sentimental reflections – check x 10 her role, while the show garnered nominations in the Best Actor (Patrick Dempsey) and Best Is it formulaic? Let me put it this way: TV Drama categories. if you played a beer-drinking game using the It also secured a Number 5 spot on the list provided, you would be cirrhotic in no time. Top 10 list of Most Watched TV Shows in 2005 Criticisms aside, however, I admit to being a (surpassed only by CSI, Desperate Housewives, faithful follower of the series, for a number Without a Trace and CSI: Miami), trouncing of reasons. Page 15 S M A N e w s F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 6 V o l 3 8 ( 2 ) 15 Page 14 – Surgical Shenanigans There is no shortage of sensational scenarios First, there is Patrick Dempsey, a previously (for example, a man who accidentally shoots obscure actor who never kick-started a career in himself in the head seven times with a nail film but (like Gary Sinise from CSI: New York gun when he tumbles down a flight of stairs) and James Spader from Boston Legal) hit his or pass-me-the-hanky moments (a well-loved stride on the small screen much later in life. senior nurse dying from terminal cancer, and a Now in his early 40s, the scruffy hothead rape victim fighting for her life). If you tend to (Mobsters, Outbreak) has blossomed into a wallow in self-pity, learning about the interns’ sexy, charismatic gentleman who effortlessly 4am pre-round rounds and 48-hour shifts should raises temperatures and got a full-page spread lift you out of the mood slump quite effectively. in People magazine’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ issue Operating theatre and resuscitation scenes last November. As neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd, look convincing, while the various ethical and Dempsey turns in a sensitive performance which professional dilemmas thrown up each week not only makes his character believable, but also should strike a chord with all doctors, whether proves that good wine does indeed taste better you have a God complex or not. with age. I have acknowledged that even House – The second draw comes in the form of my absolute favourite medical series of all an equally likeable supporting cast. Korean time – contains its own set of glaring faults. actress Sandra Oh excels as an over-achieving But I also realise that a significant part of Ivy League graduate with abysmal bedside my enjoyment comes from spotting these manners and a constant frown of suspicion inaccuracies (and griping about them), and on her moon-shaped, framed-by-a-mane-of- then moving swiftly on. wildly-untidy-hair face. Ellen Pompeo provides So while Grey’s Anatomy is not perfect, it a nice contrast as Meredith Grey, all sweet has its charms, and certainly warrants a taste. and kind but hiding her share of skeletons Episode guides on the show’s official site in the closet. Katherine Heigl adds colour in promise even more sinful fun in Season 2 a Catherine Willows-y way – like her CSI (currently airing in the US), with a senior counterpart who worked as a stripper before surgeon contracting a brain tumour (quite a turning crime investigator, Isobel ‘Izzie’ Stevens popular ailment among TV doctors, I notice), moonlighted as a lingerie model to put herself a covertly conducted autopsy, a “man with an through medical school. ovary”, another with a “hysterical pregnancy”, Other players include Miranda Bailey – and some major love triangle angst. also known as ‘The Nazi’ – a short African- It definitely ain’t House, but you have to American resident who strikes fear into the admit that these crazy surgeons are a lot more hearts of all her hapless interns (oh yes, the interesting than the ladies on Wisteria Lane and Nazi’s a woman), and a bunch of secondary the tortured castaways on Lost. male characters who complement the rest of the team well, but remain constantly Grey’s Anatomy Season 1 airs on Channel 5 overshadowed by Dempsey. every Monday at 11pm. ■ Page 11 – Anything is Fair Game In the end, Jin Yao, life is short. Do not make done the MBBS rather than the MD will be a big deal out of too many things. At this point earning much more than these clinician- in your career, passing the Final MBBS may scientists at a similar age if all they do are seem like the most important thing. It is. But washing test-tubes as a PhD student. Moreover, graduating as a doctor is only the first step in with some senior doctors lamenting the ‘poor’ a long journey in bettering ourselves both as a quality of our house officers who had spent three person and a professional. You may not believe full years in clinical studies, I wonder how good this, but society has spent too much money these GMS house officers having only spent one training you to allow you to fail the exams. year in pre-clinical study, two in clinical work As my tutors used to say, ‘You have already and one in research, will be. passed the exams, you can only fail yourself.’ ■ S M A N e w s F e b r u a r y 2 0 0 6 V o l 3 8 ( 2 ).