Armstrong: Minorities, women overrepresented on M.D. TV

The ethnically diverse array of doctors who star on television shows like “Scrubs” and “Grey’s Anatomy” does not accurately portray the population of doctors in the real world, according to a study presented by sociology professor Elizabeth Armstrong to a small group of students at an intimate dinner discussion in the Wilson private dining room yesterday evening.

Armstrong’s study looked at 50 years of primetime television shows involving either “medical settings or ... medical characters as primary characters” and attempted to “compile a census” of this population and compare it with the real world population of physicians.

By the 1990s, 13 percent of recurring physician characters on primetime network television were minorities, and 26 percent were women, Armstrong said. Both female and minority physician characters are more likely to appear in dramas rather than in sitcoms, the study found.

Overall, Armstrong said, “health professionals are overrepresented on TV shows by an order of about five times more than” physicians are actually represented in the general population. The degree of overrepresentation continues to increase.

Medical television shows also appear to glamorize certain medical specialties. The most common specialists are surgeons, followed by psychiatrists and emergency room doctors.

“Certain specialties are more glamorous,” Armstrong explained. “A lot of [shows] center on the drama of the emergency room.”

Other specialties, she found, never appear on television in primary character roles. These include dermatologists, allergists, gastroenterologists, ophthalmologists and radiologists.

Television’s focus on these “glamorous” medical specialists, just as with minorities and women, is increasing over time.

The implications of Armstrong’s research are unclear. “We don’t really know what the consequences of the depiction of doctors on television” are she said.

It is probable, however, that the way the medical profession is shown has some influence on the way people think about it. Armstrong acknowledged that having more minority doctors on television than in the general population might have either positive or negative effects.

Minority medical characters could serve as positive role models and encourage minority youth to pursue medical careers. Yet, Armstrong said, “there’s some concern that overrepresentation of minority or female physicians on TV may ... dampen social efforts or policy efforts to promote greater inclusion of minorities.”

Armstrong is interested in studying the representation of patients on television compared with actual patient demographics. Sometimes, she explained, medical shows get “political” and feature poorer patients and those without insurance.

Another important finding that might lend itself to future investigation is that the quality of the depiction of doctors has become increasingly negative over time. During the discussion following the presentation, one student expressed concern over the effects of this statistic on the relationship between doctors and patients.

“I do think it can affect how people view [their doctors],” Armstrong said. “I mean, gosh, are people expecting George Clooney to take care of them?”

The discussion was part of the Health Disparities Symposium organized by the Minority Association of Pre-Health Students.