In this post, Dr. Jeremy Faust interviews Dr. Joe Sachs, executive producer of the popular television series “The Pitt.” Both Dr. Faust and Dr. Sachs are emergency room physicians.
The show is an hour-by-hour depiction of life in an emergency room in Pittsburgh. Every hour brings new emergencies, new crises. The viewer sees doctors teaching resident doctors and making crucial decisions in an instant. If they make a mistake, the patient may die. Not every story has a happy ending.
As a viewer, you see patients who worry how they can afford the medical care; you see patients die; you see ICE agents bring in a woman who is injured, but whose very presence terrifies patients and staff. you see patients who are cooperative but also patients who are drunk and aggressive.
You see the staff acting and reacting in a situation that is always stressful. Some thrive on the stress. Others don’t.
This interview is really wonderful as an inside view about how the show was made. Many doctors and nurses are on set to make sure that their acting counterparts are doing what they would do. Every word in the script is reviewed by doctors.
Because I enjoy the program, I enjoyed the interview. I think you will too.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I enjoy realistic medical shows particularly where there is an ER or surgery as part of the story. I also enjoy a good health care documentary that follows medical staff members and explores the challenges of medicine today, particularly in ER care. What I find interesting is that even in Europe where patients have some type of access to universal health care, the public systems are often struggling due to attacks from hedge funds and private equity that seek to privatize the service. “Berlin ER,” a German TV series, details the challenges of trying to serve the needs of citizens and immigrants, who by the way, receive very limited care when they first arrive. A documentary about the excellent emergency system in London likewise showed how an amazing, highly effective emergency system, part of the National Health Service, is being diminished as politicians work to privatize an increasing number of the services. Even “across the pond” big money is actively working to undermine public services to make them generate profit for all those big companies.
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