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Medical Media: Scrubs

Televisions and stereos line a wall

With September in full swing, folks might find themselves short on downtime as exams and courses wind into full gear. Thankfully, this month’s medical media recommendation from our new Scholarly Communications and Metadata Librarian, Brittany Smith, is a sitcom that might be easy to sneak watching an episode during a tight schedule. 

Known for its humor and heart, Scrubs is a sitcom that ran from 2001-2010 that follows a group of interns and continues throughout their residency at Sacred Heart Hospital(1). While the show centered around its lead J.D, it also spent time building out its extended cast such as fellow residents Turk and Reid, nurse Carla Espinosa, Doctor Cox and the mysterious Janitor. Winning multiple awards, the wacky series wasn’t afraid to get silly despite the medical setting; there was even an entire episode that was a musical. 

Despite the zany antics, what really made Scrubs a treat to watch was its heart. The show “wrestled with the humanity of the characters in a meaningful way,” said Smith. Both patients and the physicians are shown as real people, and when Scrubs tackled those moments, it did so with empathy and thought. Some examples include a doctor struggling with OCD, the loss of a fellow staff member, and how losing patients can impact those who care for them (2). 

Scrubs can be streamed on multiple streaming services online. 

Works Cited

1.Scrubs. Doozer, Towers Productions, ABC Signature; 2001.

2. Pantoja K. Scrubs: 15 Saddest Moments, Ranked. ScreenRant. June 23, 2019. Accessed September 12, 2024. https://screenrant.com/scrubs-tv-show-saddest-moments-ranked/

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