Doctors of Reddit, how accurate is Grey's Anatomy when it comes to internship and residency?

General surgery resident here. I think the most accurate thing about the show (and the main reason I watch it) is that the characters are depicted as fairly normal people (not nerdy, lifeless, machines) who struggle with reconciling love, relationships, parenthood, etc with the demands of a surgical career. And they LOVE working. I don't see that kind of raw passion for patient care and internalization of patient stories happening daily where I work. The medical science of the show is not that far off, but their operating looks fake as hell. No retractors or eye protection?! The way their residency works is very inaccurate...general surgery residents do NOT have an option to specialize in Orthopedics or Neurosurgery. Most general surgery residents don't even rotate in these specialties. Most general surgery residents do NOT fight over traumas - they dread them. EXTREMELY RARE for all heads of departments to show up to an incoming trauma. Usually it's just a team of one attending and a few residents and nurses who receive a trauma. Most residents do not perform their own diagnostic ultrasounds and xrays. Most programs don't have one intern per Attending as they do in the show. There's usually a team per service, and yes, the intern does get shat on and treated like a scut monkey often, as they do in the show. Interns do often lie about work hours. Residents do compete with each other, but it depends on the program you're in. People DO have sex in call rooms and fall in and out of affairs with other co-workers, but it's not as rampant as in Grey's. My own significant other was my co-intern. The chief of surgery does not run the hospital like he does in Grey's. Overall, it's like any prime-time drama with good-looking people. I still watch it because it's quite feminist and I really identify with how hard it is to carve out time for family and research while pursuing a rewarding surgical career.

/r/AskReddit Thread