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->''"[...] Where doctors save lives and make love, often simultaneously. \\
Our stories, ripped from the headlines. Our passions, unbridled. \\
Our cafeteria, eh… Make love to me, Ann."''
-->-- '''Jeff!Abed''', ''Series/{{Community}}'', "Virtual Systems Analysis"

A series focusing on the practice of medicine in a hospital setting.

Provides an opportunity to educate the public on medical realities (e.g., initial misdiagnosis; correcting fallacies about well-known illnesses; [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the continued abysmal quality of hospital cafeterias]]).

Like the PoliceProcedural or LawProcedural, these are vehicles for short stories.

See also ArtisticLicenseBiology, ArtisticLicenseMedicine, ArtisticLicensePharmacology, DeathTropes, INeedAnIndexByMonday, and ScienceMarchesOn.

[[#MDexamples Work examples below...]]
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!!Medical Drama tropes:
[[index]]

* ABNegative: This particular blood type is very rare when compared to the other blood types in the ABO system. In fiction, this can either be a source of drama if played realistically - as given its rarity, there aren't as many donors - or, for some reason, it's a blood type ''everyone'' seems to have.
* AfraidOfBlood
* AfraidOfDoctors
* AfraidOfNeedles: Trypanophobia, the fear of needles and injections, is a common fear many people have, or have had at some point in their life. For obvious reasons, it's a common sight in medical dramas the world over.
* AfterActionHealingDrama
* AsYouKnow
* BillyNeedsAnOrgan
* BloodTransfusionPlot
* CleanPrettyChildbirth: In fiction, babies are often born quickly, easily and with surprisingly little grossness, a far cry from real life, where things tend to be a lot more drawn out, tense and especially painful for the mother.
* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: In media, cardiopulmonary resuscitation is very clean (no broken ribs required!) and almost always works, and it might even be a chance for the show to throw in a bit of {{Fanservice}} for good measure.
* CodeSilver: An armed and dangerous suspect storms the hospital and takes multiple members of the cast hostage.
* ConfessInConfidence
* ContaminationSituation: A main character is infected or affected by a dangerous pathogen or substance, and it's up to the other characters to find a way to either treat them or make sure other people aren't afflicted by whatever caused their condition.
* ConvenientComa: Whether played for drama or for other requirements, writers can get a lot of use out of making a character be unconscious.
* CrisisPointHospital: In the aftermath of a disaster or disease outbreak of some sort, a hospital is at the forefront of the response, yet all is not well.
* DeathByChildbirth
* DoctorsDisgracefulDemotion
* DrJerk
* EasySexChange
* {{Flatline}}: Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
* FlatlinePlotline
* GoingColdTurkey: A character tries to treat their addiction by completely removing whatever it is that they're addicted to all at once, rather than slowly reducing their reliance on it. This rarely ends well.
* GoodDocBadDoc
* HollywoodScience
* HospitalGurneyScene: If you're a patient in a medical drama, you've got a pretty good chance of entering the story lying on a gurney or stretcher, giving other members of the cast an ideal opportunity to add exposition on how you got into the situation you're in now.
* HospitalHottie: While in real life, a wide array of people in terms of conventional attractiveness can be found in medicine, medical dramas tend to select at least one or two particularly attractive people as part of the cast, if not have the entire cast be made up of this type of character.
* HospitalParadiso: A doctor experiences, and is given the opportunity of working at a medical facility far more luxurious than the one they currently work at.
* HospitalVisitHesitation
* IncurableCoughOfDeath
* InjectionPlot
* InstantDramaJustAddTracheotomy
* InstantEmergencyResponse: Extremely convenient and always on time, characters in fiction can count on the police, fire brigade or paramedics to be with them in no time at all. This can be true in real life, but you typically have to be in the right place for this to happen.
* InstantSedation: Like all drugs, sedatives need time to kick in, but in fiction, it’s as if a switch is flipped the moment the medicines are administered.
* TheIntern
* ItNeverGetsAnyEasier
* KissOfLife
* LethalDiagnosis
* MagicalAntibiotics
* MagicalDefibrillator
* NoControlGroup: For some reason, experiments and clinical trials in fiction seem to lack a control group who don’t get tested on, even though this would lead to inaccurate results in reality.
* ObsceneOBGYN: When the gynecologist or the urologist enjoys their work a little too much.
* OfficeRomance: Well, Hospital Romance.
* OneDoseFitsAll: Medicines typically need to be tailored to the person taking them; while over the counter medicine is easily categorised, prescribed or administered medicine is a bit more complex. In media, this caveat is often ignored - what works for one person will work for everyone else.
* OneOfOurOwn
* ThePatientHasLeftTheBuilding
* PatientOfTheWeek
* PuttingTheMedicInComedic
* RadiographOfDoom
* RoadsideSurgery
* RupturedAppendix: Thanks to Appendicitis being a pretty dangerous illness that the average person has a decent chance of experiencing due to sheer bad luck, having it happen in medical drama (as well as the even more dangerous situation where it bursts and releases bacteria into the peritoneal cavity) is a fairly common source of drama in media.
* ShotToTheHeart: Where we’re going, we don’t need veins.
* SoapOperaDisease
* SpecialAesopVictim
* SuckOutThePoison
* SurgeonsCanDoAutopsiesIfTheyWant
* TakenOffLifeSupport
* TapOnTheHead
* TelevisuallyTransmittedDisease: Though extremely rare in real life, these illnesses are beloved by medical drama writers everywhere for adding a dash of tension or intrigue to the story.
* UrgentMedicalAlert
* WeHaveToGetTheBulletOut
* WorstAid
* YouDidEverythingYouCould

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!!Examples of medical dramas: [[#MDexamples]]
[[index]]
* ''Series/TwoGoodTwoBeTrue'' (half the time, the female protagonist is a nurse)
* ''Series/AbotKamayNaPangarap''
* ''Film/TheAfricanDoctor''
* ''Series/AllSaints''
* ''Series/ANZACGirls''
* ''Series/TheArtfulDodger''
* ''Series/{{Becker}}''
* ''Series/BenCasey''
* ''Series/BlackBox''
* ''Manga/BlackJack''
* ''Series/CallTheMidwife''
* ''Series/{{Casualty}}''
** ''Series/{{Casualty 1906}}''
* ''Series/{{Charite}}''
** ''Series/ChariteAtWar''
* ''Series/ChicagoHope''
* ''Series/ChicagoMed''
* ''Series/ClubDerRotenBander''
* ''Series/CodeBlack''
* ''Series/CombatHospital''
* ''Series/ACountryPractice''
* ''Series/{{Complications}}''
* ''Series/DaeJangGeum'' (the second half following the MidSeasonTwist)
* ''Series/DescendantsOfTheSun'' (half the time, the female protagonist is a doctor)
* ''Series/{{Doc}}''
* ''Series/DocMartin''
* ''Film/DoctorStrange2016''
* ''Series/{{Doctors}}''
* ''Series/TheDoctors'' (soap opera)
* ''Manga/DoctorKumahige''
* ''Series/DoctorXSurgeonMichikoDaimon''
* ''Series/DoogieHowserMD''
** ''Series/DoogieKamealohaMD''
* ''Series/DrChocolate''
* ''Film/DrKildare'' (film series)
* ''Series/DrKildare'' (TV series)
* ''[[ComicBook/SensationComics Dr Pat]]'' (one feature in an anthology series)
* ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman''
* ''Series/{{Emergency}}''
* ''Series/EmergencyCouple''
* ''Series/EmergencyWard10''
* ''Series/EmilyOwensMD''
* ''Series/{{ER}}''
* ''Series/{{Everwood}}''
* ''Series/{{Faith|2012}}''
* ''Series/TheFlyingDoctors''
* ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace''
* ''Series/GeneralHospital''
* ''Series/GhostDoctor''
* ''Series/AGiftedMan''
* ''Series/GoodDoctor''
* ''Series/TheGoodDoctor''
* ''Series/{{GP}}''
* ''Series/GreenWing''
* ''Series/GreysAnatomy''
** ''Series/PrivatePractice''
** ''WebVideo/GreysAnatomyBTeam''
* ''Series/HartOfDixie''
* ''Series/{{Hawthorne}}''
* ''Series/HolbyCity''
* ''Series/HospitalPlaylist''
* ''Series/{{House}}''
* ''Series/InAllerFreundschaft''
** ''Series/InAllerFreundschaftDieJungenAerzte'' -- Spin-Off, set in a Teaching hospital, with some reappearing characters from the original series
** ''Series/InAllerFreundschaftDieKrankenschwestern'' -- Another Spin-Off,focused on the nurses
* ''Series/IslandSon''
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid''
* ''Series/TheKnick''
* ''VisualNovel/LifesignsSurgicalUnit''
* ''Series/MarcusWelbyMD''
* ''Series/{{MASH}}''
* ''Series/{{Medic}}''
* ''Series/MedicalCenter''
* ''Series/{{Medivac}}''
* ''Literature/MedStarDuology''
* ''Theatre/MenInWhite'' -- 1934 play, probably the UrExample
* ''Series/{{Mercy}}''
* ''ComicBook/MercyHeights''
* ''Series/MercyStreet''
* ''Series/MiamiMedical''
* ''Series/MondayMornings''
* ''Series/MysteryDiagnosis''
* ''Series/NewAmsterdam2018''
* ''Series/TheNightShift''
* ''Series/NipTuck''
* ''Series/NurseJackie''
* ''Series/TheNurses''
* ''Series/Nurses1991''
* ''Series/Nurses2020''
* ''Series/{{Offspring}}''
* ''Series/OffTheMap''
* ''Series/OpenHeart'' (TV Show)
* ''[[VisualNovel/OpenHeartChoices Open Heart]]'' (Visual Novel)
* ''Series/{{Painless}}''
* ''Series/PeakPractice''
* ''Series/{{Proof|2015}}''
* ''Series/{{Providence}}''
* ''Series/QuincyME''
* ''Anime/RayTheAnimation''
* ''Series/RedBandSociety''
* ''Series/TheResident''
* ''Series/RFDS2021''
* ''Series/TheRoyal''
* ''Series/RoyalPains''
* ''Series/{{Rush 2014}}''
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''
* ''Manga/SaijouNoMeii''
* ''Series/SavingHope''
* ''Series/SexSentMeToTheER''
* ''Series/{{Skymed}}''
* ''Series/StElsewhere''
* ''Manga/SuperDoctorK''
* ''Manga/TeamMedicalDragon''
* ''Series/ThisIsGoingToHurt''
* ''Series/ThreeRivers''
* ''Series/{{Transplant}}''
* ''Series/TrapperJohnMD''
* ''Videogame/TraumaCenterAtlus''
* ''Series/UntoldStoriesOfTheER''
* ''Literature/WhoIsJulia''


[[/index]]
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