Do the doctors on House perform their own surgeries?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the portrayal of doctors and surgical practices in the television show "House." Participants explore the realism of the characters performing surgeries and other medical procedures, as well as the show's overall depiction of medical practices.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants question whether it is realistic for the doctors on "House" to perform surgeries, suggesting that typically a surgeon would be responsible for such tasks.
  • Others note that House's character is depicted as having a unique authority that allows him to bypass standard medical protocols, including sending assistants to perform tests and procedures.
  • A participant mentions that the premise of House having his own department is unrealistic, but within that framework, the actions of the characters seem to follow a certain logic.
  • There are comments about the show's portrayal of medical errors, such as reading x-rays backwards, and how this reflects on the realism of the show.
  • Some participants express that while they enjoy the show, they do not take its medical details seriously, acknowledging the exaggerations for entertainment purposes.
  • One participant connects the differential diagnosis scenes in the show to solving physics problems, highlighting a perceived similarity in problem-solving approaches.
  • Several posts humorously critique various aspects of the show, including the characters' extreme actions, such as breaking into patients' homes for information.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of opinions, with some agreeing on the unrealistic aspects of the show while others defend its entertainment value. There is no consensus on the accuracy of the medical practices depicted.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference specific episodes and character actions, indicating that their views are based on personal interpretations and experiences with the show rather than established medical practices.

Saladsamurai
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Anyone watch "House"?

I have a question. First let me say that I know it is TV. But, my question is this: In an episode that I watched today, the three main doctors besides House (I don't know their names...black guy, white guy white chick works) performed a surgery on a patient. Don't they usually have a surgeon do that?! Or is it just possible that they are such super awesome doctors that they do that too?

Silly I know, but it kind of got to me as I am a huge fan of the show.

Casey
 
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Those three are his proteges, aren't they? I thought House was supposed to be a surgeon.

My wife, Tsu, and my mother, both love the show - Tsu enjoys watching medical shows and pointing out the errors. Her favorite objection is that they often view the x-rays backwards. :biggrin:

I'll ask her about it.
 


Neato! How can you tell if they are viewing the x-rays backward?
 


Saladsamurai said:
Neato! How can you tell if they are viewing the x-rays backward?

In the real world, at most hospitals, they are supposed to superimpose a L or R on the x-ray so there can be no mistake, but she can usually tell because the organs are backwards.
 


Tsu just called back saying that these are the most amazing doctors in the world! Not only can they do any type of surgery, but they can do their own CTs, MRIs, x-rays, angiograms, colonoscopies, and even their own ureteral stent placements.

Also, Tsu says that she especiallly likes it when they read the x-rays upside down. However, the state-of-the-art digital systems don't allow this error to occur anymore.

On a related noted, I knew a doctor in Lakewood, California, who read an x-ray backwards, and removed the wrong kidney!
 


Chase is a surgeon and intensivist. Foreman is a prestigious doctor, so he is just that awesome.
 


From what I understand the whole premise of the show (House having his own department) is the part that is unrealistic. But based on that premise everything else about how they do things seems to follow logically. It has been an issue, particularly in the earlier episodes, that House demands things be done NOW and in many cases also demanding things be done that other doctors would not do. So its become common practice on the show for him to send his assistents to run tests, take x-rays, do MRIs, ect when normally they would place requests for these things and wait for them to run through the queue.

If I remember correctly there have been episodes where other surgeons have worked on his patients and episodes where the surgeon refused to do the surgery, or were unavailable for surgery, so he himself or an assistent preformed the surgery instead.

edit: there is often also the issue of doing a end run around Cuddy to get things done because she may not approve if made aware of his activities.
 


TheStatutoryApe said:
From what I understand the whole premise of the show (House having his own department) is the part that is unrealistic. But based on that premise everything else about how they do things seems to follow logically. It has been an issue, particularly in the earlier episodes, that House demands things be done NOW and in many cases also demanding things be done that other doctors would not do. So its become common practice on the show for him to send his assistents to run tests, take x-rays, do MRIs, ect when normally they would place requests for these things and wait for them to run through the queue.

Of course the problem is that doctors are not qualified to do these tests or procedures.
 


I used to work construction at the University of Iowa Hospital, and on my smoke breaks I'd sit with the people who worked there (nurses usually, occasionally I'd talk to a doctor or two... they didn't come around often) and listen to them pick apart various medical shows and laugh about it. Nothing specific comes to mind because to tell the truth I didn't understand it when they were telling me... but what it amounts to is that most of it is complete garbage.

I accepted that a long time ago, though... and House is awesome.
 
  • #10


House diagnosed the cause of death of a homeless woman by tasting her vomit. There is no doctor in the world who is going to taste a dead homeless woman's vomit. Turned out the woman had died of rabies, but for some reason House didn't have to get rabies shots. I keep expecting him to drop dead from it any day.
 
  • #11


He also eats vicodin like tic-tacs.
 
  • #12


Saladsamurai said:
He also eats vicodin like tic-tacs.

probably the most "real" aspect of the show.
 
  • #13


Ivan Seeking said:
On a related noted, I knew a doctor in Lakewood, California, who read an x-ray backwards, and removed the wrong kidney!
In the autobiography of a doctor turned comic (Greame Garden/Graham Chapman?)
He tells he once pointed out to an eminent doctor that he had the x-ray the wrong way round.
The old guy responded "Young man - with a case as complex as this you have to look at all the problem from all angles"
 
  • #14


I love the show; W hates it. While I don't take the plots or details seriously for a second, the lines that he delivers are priceless.
 
  • #15


Danger said:
I love the show; W hates it. While I don't take the plots or details seriously for a second, the lines that he delivers are priceless.

Absolutley; he's such a d_ck.
 
  • #16


To connect this to physics: the writer for some of the episodes is Matt Witten. You might be familiar with the work of his brother, Ed.
 
  • #17


tribdog said:
House diagnosed the cause of death of a homeless woman by tasting her vomit.

Chuck Norris does that pretty often, and he's not even a doc.

BTW, does it bother anyone else that they use the paddles on flatline patients? Seriously... Chuck would never do that.
 
  • #18


Vanadium 50 said:
To connect this to physics: the writer for some of the episodes is Matt Witten. You might be familiar with the work of his brother, Ed.

NO WAY!

Pull the other one!
 
  • #19


Chi Meson said:
NO WAY!

Way.
 
  • #20


Yeah, I'm a regular viewer of House. I don't know enough about medicine to know how realistic the show is. But is it just me, or do all the differential diagnosis scenes remind you guys of solving a physics problem? Aside from the medical terminology, it reminds me of my friends and me when we were in first year quantum.
 
  • #21


I love the show. As to the OP I think you'd have the doc in there to guide the surgeon...Just what I think.
 
  • #23


None of you find it odd that House routinely orders the other doctors to break into the patient's homes to search for something that could have made them ill?
 
  • #24


I've never watched the show. The thought of Bertie Wooster playing an American doctor is too weird for me.
 
  • #25


Evo said:
None of you find it odd that House routinely orders the other doctors to break into the patient's homes to search for something that could have made them ill?

I always give my doc my house keys just in case.
 
  • #26


Evo said:
None of you find it odd that House routinely orders the other doctors to break into the patient's homes
I think breaking into patients homes to steal their TV was a standard clause on my HMO's contract
 
  • #27


Evo said:
None of you find it odd that House routinely orders the other doctors to break into the patient's homes to search for something that could have made them ill?

With Ed Witten's brother, anything is possible.
 
  • #28


jimmysnyder said:
I've never watched the show. The thought of Bertie Wooster playing an American doctor is too weird for me.

I thought he was George III.

Legend has it that during the audition, the producers liked him, but didn't care for the "fake English accent" he would be using off camera.
 
  • #29


Vanadium 50 said:
I thought he was George III.

Legend has it that during the audition, the producers liked him, but didn't care for the "fake English accent" he would be using off camera.

That would be "fake Brittish accent", assuming he auditioned in the US :biggrin:
 
Last edited:
  • #30
I never had heard of Hugh Laurie before, so I was shocked when I heard him speak in his native tongue. It's not natural!

I also did not know this
Hugh Laurie was born in Oxford, England, and educated at Eton and Cambridge University, where he took a degree in Anthropology.
He took a degree? Odd way of wording.

http://www.fox.com/house/bios/hugh.htm

I wonder if Matt Witten sounds like Ed?
 

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