Medical drama clichés that we actually enjoy

As much as we love to watch TV dramas, medical dramas hit another level. Over the years it has become clear that they’re here to stay. Many of these award winning shows have captivated audiences with such engaging characters and action packed storylines. Quite literally. Come to think of it, there’s never a dull moment in medical dramas, is there? You’ll find yourself on the edge of your seat as you watch a life threatening surgery being performed by Derek Shepherd a.k.a McDreamy with his bare hands on Grey’s Anatomy and wonder whether to bat your eyelids or bite your nails. Quite a few medical dramas have stood the test of time and after binge watching, we’ve noticed a few clichés that run through most of them.

Rare diseases

Several times we’ve come across names of new diseases or seen the strangest possible medical cases on the shows. In House for example there are some cases that could actually happen in real life, though improbable; Sleeping sickness caused by tsetse fly for instance. Ruggedly handsome Dr. House of course is arrogant but you can’t deny his genius in solving such difficult cases.

Outbreaks for poetic justice

There’s that one nerdy invisible scientist who suddenly snaps one day (Chicago Med- Infection) and decides to leak a virus or bacterial infection causing the city to have an outbreak. The reasons are mostly his/her own version of a poetic justice. Our doctors do everything they can to prevent it from wiping life from the planet.

Romances in between the chaos

We’ve come to accept the fact that these doctors rarely leave the hospital. So, whatever romantic relationships they might want to have has to be amongst their colleagues- Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Bekker from Chicago Med, April and Jackson from Grey’s Anatomy or the evergreen romance between Meredith and McDreamy. We also have some extreme instances where a doctor crosses all barriers because she falls head over heels in love with a patient who happens to be Jeffrey Dean Morgan. These on and off moments of love and strain keep us wondering if they’ll get together for good, or what would happen to the show if the sweetness turns sour. Also, those on-call rooms are used less for catching some sleep and more often than not as a preferred venue for some steamy moments of intimacy!

There’s a medical emergency for each main character

Isn’t there? Whether it is something huge like heart disease or cancer as in the case of Amelia Shephard in Grey’s Anatomy and Robin Charles in Chicago Med, or maybe something different like Meredith Grey drowning in water leaving us hanging, many of these characters either come face to face with a shooter, or a serious disease/ accident bringing them inches close to death. Why do they do that to us?

Finding a case while jogging in the park

…or any other mundane activity. In one of those occasional moments that we see the doctors taking a run in the park or having a drink in the bar, picking kids up from school or we’re stretching it a little here- shopping for something pretty, they will for sure come across someone who needs a doctor, and it’s always an emergency. Always.

They give trauma and heal too 

With all the tragedies they come across, all the childhood trauma many of them face, and all the losses they bear on a daily basis they also gift us with some pretty iconic thoughts. Once a hard day comes to an end and curtain closes, we’re often left with a message to think upon. So, we’ll leave you with one of our favourites,

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