Real doctors influenced by TV doctors

Television medical dramas such as NBC’s ER influence how real life doctors perform some medical procedures, Canadian researchers found.

Dr. Peter Brindley, a critical-care specialist at the University of Alberta Hospital wanted to know why so many medical students and residents were using a faulty technique to insert breathing tubes in patients so he and colleague Dr. Craig Needham conducted a study of 80 medical students and residents, the National Post reported.

Many said they learned through trial and error, but a large proportion admitted they picked up their technique from the doctors and nurses on television, with ER being cited the most often, Brindley and Needham said.

Brindley and Needham also analyzed a full season of ER and found some aspect of the head positioning for inserting a breathing tube was wrong in all 22 intubations that could be fully viewed on screen.

The researchers said that medical students typically learn about procedures such as intubation in a lecture hall, practice on a real patient, often with minimal supervision and later train others.

Brindley recommends that simulators, computer-assisted dummies that provide life-like practice for medical students should be used before students begin working on real people

The findings are published in the journal Resuscitation.