One of the walking wounded would describe my position during a recent stay in the local hospital and, as such, I was able to observe the workings of the doctors and nurses. They turned up in jeans and pullovers - just the sort of people with whom one might have a drink in the local bar. As if by the wave of a magic wand, these "normal" people soon assumed a different character - one of importance, status and authority - and all of this conferred upon them by the white coat and the clogs. Perhaps
this transformation was down to an image created by TV dramas. Dr Kildare (left) was a popular figure in a hospital soap during the early sixties. Ben Casey MD (centre) was another US import while Emergency Ward 10 was a British product of the sixties.
With all due respect, I did not see such good-looking doctors at my hospital. Nor did I see any dramas of the sort that might grace our TV screens. But I did wonder why hospital dramas have been, and remain, so popular and why they have inspired so many TV programmes and novels, for example: "Regeneration" by Pat Barker, "The Magic Mountain" by Thomas Mann and "The English Patient" by Michael Ondaatje. Writer and academic Sarah Moss admits to being fascinated by the relationships that can develop between nurses, patients and doctors, and by the relationships between power, suffering and healing. There is no doubt that hospitals can be places where major life events occur. Herein, perhaps, lie the reasons for the enduring popularity of the hospital drama.
I was unaware of any emergencies during my own brief spell in hospital but I did notice the smug swagger of those whose white coats billowed behind them. It seems that we are fascinated by power relationships, by people dealing with discomfort or by near-death experiences or by problems we know we may have to face one day. We love to put the good-looking doctor on a pedestal and look up to him/her for help in overcoming pain and death. On a more basic level, buckets of blood will always fascinate.
I know of no research that indicates whether these hospital dramas improve our understanding of matters medical. Nor am I aware that these programmes change our perceptions of health issues. What I can say is this. During the afternoon, not more than a few hours after my operation, I decided to walk home (about 100 yards) and surprise my wife and son with a brief "hello." My wife was furious and sent me back at once with my tail between my legs. Unfortunately, on my way back to the hospital, who should be walking towards me? Yes, you probably have it. It was the surgeon who had operated on me. She was surprisingly good about it all. I was (for once) speechless. Clearly I had already succumbed to the hospital hierarchy!
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