It’s hard to believe that Grey’s Anatomy is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2020 and doesn’t look to be ending soon. Over the course of its decade and a half run, the show has been something of a trailblazer when it comes to diversity on TV and covering important topics, such as sexual assault. Having said all that, Grey’s Anatomy lasting legacy is arguably making hot doctors and interns a real “thing”.
Speaking of hot, the GOAT team talk about ‘Tiger King’, Netflix’s wild doco series everyone must watch ASAP on ‘It’s Been A Big Day For…’ below:
Grey’s Anatomy is far from the first medical TV show that’s featured hot doctors and interns. Just look at ER, Scrubs and House. But what makes Grey’s Anatomy stand out is how consistently good-looking the entire cast has been over the past 15 years, even when characters are coming and going every few seasons.
Just a simple cursory Google search into the cast of Grey’s Anatomy yields an incredible list of good-looking actors and actresses who have been on the show, as well as lists ranking who is the hottest doctor.
By the way, the answer to the hottest Grey’s Anatomy doctor question is McDreamy. Stupid, sexy McDreamy.
So what exactly am I trying to get at with this weird, thirsty train of thought? Well this revolving door of hot doctors on Grey’s Anatomy has actually left a real world impact on how people perceive actual doctors.
Studies have been done into how watching Grey’s Anatomy affects people’s outlook on doctors and found that viewers associated the show’s portrayal of doctors as good-looking, smart and capable to be how medical practitioners actually are in real life, which led to greater patient satisfaction and perception that they’re couragous.
In other words, Grey’s Anatomy made the “talented courageous hot doctor” trope into a real-life thing and people became convinced that all doctors are actually like that.
Hey, medicine isn’t exactly the sexiest of occupations and it’s quite nice to see doctors and interns be finally given the sex appeal they deserve, especially during these tough times where they’re working their arses off trying to save people.
That being said, Grey’s Anatomy perhaps did go too far with the whole hot intern thing because it’s, well, inaccurate. That’s not to say there aren’t good-looking interns, but clean-shaven, well-dressed, well-rested and perfectly made-up interns like the ones you see on Grey’s Anatomy?
Nah, that’s definitely not a thing. Add bags under every single character’s eyes and that’s a small step towards a more accurate portrayal.
While Grey’s Anatomy has helped improve the perception of doctors by making them hot, it has also slightly misled viewers into thinking that intern life is pretty glamourous and filled with good-looking people when the reality is far less attractive and way more exhausting, which in turn puts more responsibility on the show to give accurate information.
Grey’s Anatomy has left an enviable legacy upon the TV landscape and it honestly looks like it’ll be continuing on for the foreseeable future while there’s still hot young actors ready and willing to step into those doctor coats and intern scrubs. Here’s to many more years of hot doctors and interns to come, but just remember it’s a show and not a documentary.
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