Hospital doctors' Opinions regarding educational Utility, public Sentiment and career Effects of Medical television Dramas: the HOUSE MD study

The impact of a medical drama featuring a hospital pharmacist on the perception of pharmacists among high school students and guardians: A quasi-experimental study

Background

A pharmacist's work has shifted from non-personal to in-person services; especially in a super-aging society, further collaboration with other professions is needed. Communication has become an essential skill for pharmacists. However, there is limited public awareness about the work of pharmacists, and their perception among high school students is unclear. Medical dramas have been reported as educational tools for students, including their role in influencing the career choices of health professionals.

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a TV drama featuring a hospital pharmacist on perceptions of pharmacists among high school students and guardians.

Methods

An online survey involving 300 high school students and 300 guardians with their own high school children was conducted before the drama aired, and a post-survey conducted after it finished airing. Regular viewing was defined as exposure in this study. A difference-in-differences approach was used to compare the change in perceptions toward pharmacists' work, required knowledge, aptitude, and communication needs.

Results

Comparing before and after they viewed the drama, high school students had significant differences in their perceptions of pharmacist duties such as "one-dose package dispensing" and "health consultation other than medicine," while guardians had different perceptions of "collaboration with health care professionals" and "information sharing about medication therapy." Regarding pharmacist aptitude, only guardians showed significant differences in their perceptions of skills such as "precision," "cooperativeness," and "decisiveness." There were no significant differences in the perceived level of communication required for pharmacists.

Conclusions

The results indicated that the portrayal of the pharmacist in the drama may have had some impact on high school students and guardians and was considered useful as an opportunity to learn about pharmacists. However, it was suggested that pharmacists should make the public understand that their work requires real-world communication skills.

Impact of Medical TV Shows on the Surgical Knowledge of Non-Healthcare Students of Lahore, Pakistan

PURPOSE

A popular genre of television shows is medical dramas. Although the primary objective of watching these shows is entertainment, acquiring medical knowledge is a passive by-product. Surgical procedures constitute a large part of the storyline of these shows. This could either serve as a source of medical knowledge or provide false information, the effect being especially important in individuals with no prior medical exposure. This study assesses the impact medical TV shows can have on the surgical knowledge of non-healthcare students and the difference in knowledge between different demographic groups (among those with relatives in the medical community and those without).

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among the non-healthcare students of Lahore, Pakistan. A self-administered questionnaire was used containing socio-demographic factors (age, gender, educational discipline), history, and hours of medical TV shows watched. It also contained ten questions each with a score of 1 to assess surgical knowledge. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.26.

RESULTS

Among the 1097 respondents, 450 (41%) had a history of watching medical TV shows. The majority, 319 (29.1%), had seen these shows for < 24 hours. The mean score of all respondents was 5.79 out of a maximum score of 10. Respondents with a history of watching medical TV shows were more knowledgeable than those who did not (p < 0.001). Similarly, respondents with a history of watching more hours of medical TV shows were more knowledgeable than those who watched for a lesser number of hours (p < 0.001). Respondents with relatives in the healthcare profession were also more knowledgeable than those without (p = 0.049).

CONCLUSION

If properly developed, while maintaining their primary entertainment value, medical TV shows can also be used as efficient learning tools. Quality controls must also be applied to minimize the risk of false information.

TV medical dramas: health sciences students' viewing habits and potential for teaching issues related to bioethics and professionalism

BACKGROUND

Medical dramas have been popular since their inception, especially among medical students. We hypothesized that the recent increase in the availability of TV medical series through online streaming platforms has probably changed health science students' viewing habits as well as the representation of bioethical conflicts and health professionals.

METHODS

We invited undergraduate students of medicine, nursing, and human biology to complete a self-administered questionnaire about their viewing habits and perceptions of the depictions of bioethical issues and professionalism in TV medical series.

RESULTS

Of the 355 respondents, 98.6 % had watched TV in the last year, 93.5 % watched TV series, and 49.6 % watched medical dramas more than once a week. The most-viewed medical dramas were The Good Doctor, House MD, and Grey's Anatomy. The most-remembered bioethical topics were medical errors, inappropriate professional behaviors, and death. Most students considered that ideals of professionalism were depicted positively and professionals were portrayed as intelligent, professionally qualified, and competent.

CONCLUSIONS

Medical dramas are very popular with health science students and are potentially useful as teaching tools for discussing issues related to bioethics and professionalism.

Teaching medicine with the help of "Dr. House"

TV series such as “House MD”, “Grey´s Anatomy” or “Emergency Room” are well perceived by medical students. Seminars featuring medical TV series such as “House MD” might serve as door-opener to attract medical students to learn more about rare diseases. The TV series “House MD” is troublesome for the main character Dr. House is an excellent diagnostician but at the same time a rather misanthropic person. Therefore, lecturing medicine with the help of “House MD” requires constant evaluation. From 2008 to 2016 we are using the well-known TV series “House MD” continuously to attract medical students and teach them about rare diseases as well as diagnostic strategies. We collected from 213 students a detailed questionnaire assessing their learning experience. 76.6% of our students (n = 157) reported to watching medical dramas on a regular basis. The Dr. House seminar was compared to traditional seminars and our students reported an improved learning effect (69.9%), better concentration (89.7%), higher motivation to participate (88.7%), and more fun (86.7%) (all p<0.001). The students see Dr. House’s behavior quite critically. Likert assessment on a 5-point scale identified strong disagreement with Dr. House´s interpersonal skills in dealing with his colleagues (median = 1) and patients (median = 1). At the same time, the students strongly agreed with his outstanding diagnostic (median = 5) and therapeutic capabilities (median = 4). Medical students visiting a Dr. House teaching seminar are highly motivated to learn more about rare diseases. They were positively influenced by TV series such as Dr. House to improve their diagnostic and clinical skills. At the same time, they are critical enough not to see Dr. House as a role model for their own personality. Well performed medical TV shows such as Dr. House can successfully be used in an educational setting to motivate medical students to come into seminars to learn more about rare diseases.