What May Surprise You About The Pitt

Isn’t it ironic that even though most of the public is fascinated with the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center characters depicted in The Pitt, it’s the medical and behavioral health community who are actually watching, at least more than you’d think. Sure, about 70% are avoiding the show like the plague, but there’s a bigger humanity in the show coming through that clinicians and therapists and even healthcare business leaders are getting drawn to. “I didn’t want to watch – but my wife put it on and it has a way of showing the humanity in the workers in a way that fits the times we’re in, and I like that,” Ned Holden, a retired MD, said. Interestingly, the behavior of people around this show is different than other medical dramas from TV history. Business people from construction companies and restaurants like the show because they think Noah Wylie is a good manager. Nurse case managers like the show for how it tries to interject dialogue around things like “quality improvement” or how it illuminates a very real problem in America, like the couple working multiple part time jobs, none with insurance, so they ought to “go get an Affordable Care Act plan.” For those who built the ACA, that must mean something that the TV show is promoting it…92% of the 1,279 women surveyed, regardless of profession, say they miss George Clooney but they are “just fine with Noah Wylie.” All but one ER doctor of the 72 polled do not watch, which isn’t surprising given they live this, but the lone viewer said “I’m looking for tips on bedside manner” which is funny and maybe a bit scary. Dermatologists seem to watch more than other specialists (about 30% polled) since as one said, “I really don’t know what happens in an ER” and “I’d like to see how they diagnose and treat skin rashes – because my patients—who do watch the Pitt—will be asking me, so I mine as well bone up.” It’s fair point that some PCPs in the 131 surveyed agree with, that they watch to get a feel for how the encounters play out, how they learn something each time about what their patients will be watching and absorbing. Several who work for health insurance plans admit they indulge – nearly 45%, some saying they see a lot of “wasted utilization,” like “I knew it when Dr. Robby’s resident ordered the CT scan, spinal tap and all those extra tests – it’s like the wild west.” Consumers love it particularly the autism spectrum community for how Taylor Dearden’s Dr. Mel character is portraying neurodivergent and autism in an ER resident, whose bedside manner and interaction with fellow doctors is sweet and beautiful, and perhaps a real win for the show and humanity. The Pitt is a teaching hospital after all, and even though it’s just made-up fiction for entertainment, maybe we learn a little something from it, about ourselves, how to behave, how to listen, and how to be.