Grey's Anatomy and mine

The hit series Grey’s Anatomy made doctors look cool and controversial and interesting. So people come up to me and ask – is it true? Are there McDreamys, and McSteamys and all those, you know, drama and sleeping around?

I’m a fan of House. It tickles my brain. I haven’t had the chance to watch Grey’s Anatomy so I really didn’t have any answer.. That is until today. My sister bought seasons 1-3 and I did a marathon. I did not plan on doing so, but I must confess – I was hooked. It wasn’t because the actors were easy on the eyes. I often found myself crying, laughing, and sympathizing with the cast. It was so accurate. Everything was so freaking accurate. The emotions, the stress, the story lines, the drama… I felt like I was watching my life, watching my friends, watching my colleagues.

When McDreamy fell for Meredith and Meredith went for McDreamy, it wasn’t because he was good looking. It was because he was simply there. He’s a doctor. He understood her. She understood him. When Grey chose him over McVet, even though McVet was the better man, I got it. Doctors are trained to want the difficult, to aim for the impossible even if it is bad for them. I think that the only people who understand doctors are doctors. This is not to say that other professions are inferior or anything, but look at Izzie. Her model boyfriend broke up with her because she was always too busy. Overtime is not optional. Whatever it takes to make your patients better, you do it. Even if it means depriving yourself of sleep for 36 hours. Even if it means you get trained by crappy attendings. You deal with it, you bite the bullet and you don’t quit. Someone comes in with a stab wound, heart attack, brain and guts leaking out, you don’t run away. You stay. If your patient crashes in the middle of the night, even when you are not on duty, you go back to the hospital and check on him. It’s what kills us, but it is also what makes the patient lives. And maybe that’s too intense a statement, but it’s true.

About their complicated love affairs – it’s pretty accurate too. You fall for someone who understands you and not for the person who keeps nagging you for more time. I guess the sleeping around – it happens in all professions, but I think news travels faster in the hospital. I like how Callie said it – we’re all seventeen year olds. We spent four years in high school, four years in college, and four years in medical school. While our contemporaries were maturing, we were stuck in school, stuck in some mental age. We could suture, we could do surgery and all that jazz, but really, we’re just kids hiding behind white coats.

On another note, I guess I am a mix of Yang – competitive, wants to be excellent at whatever it is she is doing, Grey – damaged and scary, Izzie – on the being emotionally involved with patients, and George – on being scared and being unsure sometimes. Alex? Alex would be my friend.