History Series / StrongMedicine

** Dr. Dylan West pretends to have this attitude to get a rise out of Lu.

--> "[[TakeThatUs You'd be surprised]]." [[note]] Ironically, this series came out ''before'' Lifetime fully devolved into the constant "woman in peril" fare it's known for. [[/note]].

* MakingUseOfTheTwin: This is the first show in which one of the Mowry twins was featured, but not both. Of course, this means Kayla (Tamera) has a twin sister, Keisha (Tia), as seen in "My Sister, My Doctor, Myself". [[spoiler: Keisha turns out to be TheOphelia as well.]]

* WrittenInInfirmity: Lu's pregnancy is because Rosa Blasi was pregnant in RealLife.

* ChristmasCake: Dana. She's mostly okay with still being single, it's her ticking biological clock that bothers her.

** Andy to Dana. The latter is a single, childless woman who evidently grew up wealthy and is a veteran of elite schools and debutante balls, while the former is a married mother of two and an MilitaryBrat who herself joined the army.

* PlayingGertrude: Rosa Blasi (Lu) is only eleven years older that the actor who played her son. Slightly justified since she was a teen mom, even though she states that she had him at ''16''.

* CrusadingWidower: Dylan fell into such a HeroicBSOD after his fiancée's death that he nearly gave up his medical career. He snapped himself out of it and decided to honor her by switching to her specialty--women's health--and throwing himself into it.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnFemale[=/=]DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Averted. While treating a recently paroled sex offender (he comes to the clinic for chemical castration shots), Lu talks with his sister, who confides that they were both sexually abused by their ''mother''. At no time are they treated dismissively or as if her actions were any less despicable than if she'd been a man. The fact that the boy ended up as a rapist himself shows that it was just as damaging.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Lu didn't abort her teenage pregnancy (the result of which is her son Mark) and despite an amniocentesis report that states that her child will have [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cri_du_chat_syndrome Cri Du Chat syndrome]], Lu adamantly refuses to consider an abortion. This is someone who has been well established as a staunch supporter of abortion rights.

* AbuseMistake[=/=]CutHimselfShaving: Dana notices bruises on Dr. Jackson's wife. The woman's vague explanation makes her suspicious. When she's rushed to the hospital a few days later, having "fallen down the stairs", Dana is now certain that Dr. Jackson has been abusing her. . . [[spoiler: only for it to turn out that his wife really ''had'' fallen. She's an IllGirl and is developing multiple sclerosis.]]

* {{Transgender}}: Subverted. Dana treats a man who turns out to be a woman who is passing herself off as a man. However, this is not because she identifies as one, but because she wanted so badly to be a priest that she changed her name and doctored all identifying documents.

* ArtisticLicenseMedicine: The episode "Type & Cross", has multiple violations of patient privacy that everyone involved would be fully aware of in RealLife--Dana is present while her date is being interviewed before he donates, Peter questions Dana and Lu simultaneously, and having discovered multiple health problems among a group of nuns who have come to donate, Dana reveals all of them to their Mother Superior. Additionally, Lana donates even though her history of prostitution would make her ineligible.

* BetaCouple: Kayla and Peter.

* ContrastingReplacementCharacter: Andy to Dana. The latter is a single, childless woman who evidently grew up wealthy and is a veteran of elite schools and debutante balls, while the former is a married mother of two and an MilitaryBrat who herself joined the army.

* TheNotLoveInterest: Peter to Lu. Any other show would have WillTheyOrWontThey tension, but here, they are genuinely just good friends. As well as with Dana. Even though he insists on actually sleeping with her when she asks him to father her child, it's not because of UnresolvedSexualTension, it's merely because he feels that the natural way to conceive a child is the best. And while she's clearly impressed at his bedroom skills, it never turns into an actual relationship between them.

* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler: Lu]] is raped by one of the surgeons. The final episode of the storyline involves a gathering of women--including the prosecutor in her case--who had been assaulted and whose attackers had gone unpunished for a variety of reasons. It might seem like typical Creator/{{Lifetime}} tripe, but it's actually a very depressing TruthInTelevision.

* ReallyGetsAround: When one of Lu's old high school boyfriends shows up, Lana asks her if he was "the first one". Lu sheepishly admits that rather, "he was the only one I ''didn't'' do it with."

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: A few plots were. The most blatant was the plot of the sixth-season premiere "New Blood": A flood of patients comes in from a train wreck from someone leaving a car on the tracks. Later, a bipolar girl in manic state comes in to tell Lu how she got over a suicidal impulse. Her method: Drive a car onto the tracks and wait for a train. She got over it...but she left the car on the tracks. This is pretty much how the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Glendale_train_crash 2005 Glendale train wreck]] happened (though the perp in real life was a man.)

* SassyBlackWoman: Lana
* SassySecretary: Lana, again.

* SoapboxSadie: Lu

* StayInTheKitchen: An Army recruiter has a rather patronizing attitude to a young woman interested in joining, and to Andy herself, until she coldly reminds him that he's not only speaking to a fellow officer, he's speaking to a ''superior'' and tells him to shut up.

* YourCheatingHeart: Subverted. Despite clearly loving his wife, Dr. Jackson harbors a very strong attraction to Dana throughout her time on the show and it's only because she rebuffs him that it never turns into an outright affair.

''Strong Medicine'' is a medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict, that aired on the Creator/{{Lifetime}} network from 2000 to 2006. The series was created and produced in part by comedian and activist Creator/WhoopiGoldberg, who made a couple of cameos in the series, and Tammy Ader. The series initially starred Creator/JanineTurner and Creator/RosaBlasi, however Turner decided to later leave the show and her position was later filled with Creator/PatriciaRichardson and later Creator/RickSchroeder. Strong Medicine was highest-rated original drama on basic cable in 2001.

* CrusadingWidower: Dylan fell into such a deep depression after his fiancée's death that he nearly gave up his medical career. He snapped himself out of it by switching to her specialty--women's health--and throwing himself into it.

* DeadSparks: Dr. Jackson confides in Peter that his once [[HappilyMarried happy marriage]] has become this. He initially blames it on her illness (she has multiple sclerosis), but ultimately admits that it was like this even before her diagnosis (likely explaining why he's become attracted to Dana).

* FalseRapeAccusation: A young girl accuses a pop star of molesting her, but inconsistencies in her story (which are actually not uncommon in a victim of any age, especially a young one), forces her mother to admit that she coerced the girl to lie in the hopes of receiving a large settlement.

** Also averted in an episode where a pop star is accused of molesting a young fan. Although the girl later admits to lying, having been pressured by her mother, her alleged are taken just as seriously as if she were accusing a man.