Teaching medicine with the help of “Dr. House”

Abstract

TV series such as “House MD”, “Grey´s Anatomy” or “Emergency Room” are well perceived by medical students. Seminars featuring medical TV series such as “House MD” might serve as door-opener to attract medical students to learn more about rare diseases. The TV series “House MD” is troublesome for the main character Dr. House is an excellent diagnostician but at the same time a rather misanthropic person. Therefore, lecturing medicine with the help of “House MD” requires constant evaluation. From 2008 to 2016 we are using the well-known TV series “House MD” continuously to attract medical students and teach them about rare diseases as well as diagnostic strategies. We collected from 213 students a detailed questionnaire assessing their learning experience. 76.6% of our students (n = 157) reported to watching medical dramas on a regular basis. The Dr. House seminar was compared to traditional seminars and our students reported an improved learning effect (69.9%), better concentration (89.7%), higher motivation to participate (88.7%), and more fun (86.7%) (all p<0.001). The students see Dr. House’s behavior quite critically. Likert assessment on a 5-point scale identified strong disagreement with Dr. House´s interpersonal skills in dealing with his colleagues (median = 1) and patients (median = 1). At the same time, the students strongly agreed with his outstanding diagnostic (median = 5) and therapeutic capabilities (median = 4). Medical students visiting a Dr. House teaching seminar are highly motivated to learn more about rare diseases. They were positively influenced by TV series such as Dr. House to improve their diagnostic and clinical skills. At the same time, they are critical enough not to see Dr. House as a role model for their own personality. Well performed medical TV shows such as Dr. House can successfully be used in an educational setting to motivate medical students to come into seminars to learn more about rare diseases.

Disease awareness or subtle product placement? Orphan diseases featured in the television series “House, M.D.” - a cross-sectional analysis

“…In its third season in the US, the series had an average viewership of 19.4 million per episode [26]. It was reported to have reached 81.8 million people in 66 different countries and was especially popular among physicians in training [27]. The series has both been applauded and criticized for its medical and scientific accuracyespecially since many presented cases were considered to be very unlikely, yet not impossible.…”

Raising rare disease awareness using red flags, role play simulation and patient educators: results of a novel educational workshop on Raynaud phenomenon and systemic sclerosis

“…Learners reacted positively to this initiative [36]. As another example, Jerrentrup et al designed a seminar using video excerpts from the TV show "House MD" as a starting point to teach RD and diagnostic strategies [37]. Several RD organizations have also helped foster medical student associations that promote RD awareness and educational endeavours [38,39].…”

The influence of the media in psychiatry—a force for good in trainee recruitment?

“…1 Illicitly manufactured fentanyl emerged in Estonia in 2003, and, within a year, replaced heroin as the most common drug in the illicit drug market. 2,3 Because of fentanyl use, Estonia had the highest mortality due to drug overdoses in Europe for 2007-17. 2…”

“…2 Public perception and societal stigma has a substantial effect on students' future career choices and can influence medical students. 3 Films with mental health themes, such as the latest Joker movie, in which the lead character has many mental health issues and the pseudobulbar affect, have the potential to reach a worldwide audience. Although Joker might not be entirely accurate in its depiction, it has certainly started a global discussion about mental illness.…”