Dissecting the Medical Drama “Grey’s Anatomy”

Natalie AconeMSS 332Section A

A Content Analysis

What is “Grey’s Anatomy?”

• Primetime television medical drama on ABC• Follows lives of doctors at Seattle Grace Hospital• Brings unique medical cases and dramatic personal

lives of doctors together

Research Question

• Is “Grey’s Anatomy” a balanced representation of both the medical and dramatic elements of a medical drama?

What constitutes a medical drama?

• Medicinal Themes + Personal Drama Themes = Medical Drama

• Equal balance of both– Both given equal amount of scenes

and air time

Medical Themes

• Patients• Hospital/clinic• Diagnosing• Treatments• Emergencies• Surgeries• Tests• Life of a doctor

Medical Content

• (5:18-6:10)• http://www.hulu.com/watch/176825/greys-an

atomy-with-you-im-born-again#s-p1-so-i0

Personal Drama Themes

• Relationships– Family– Friendships– Dating– Marriage– Sexual

• Life outside the hospital– Home– Bar

• Issues relating to the character– Loosing self– Finding self

Personal Life and Relationship Content

• (10:56-12:54)• http://www.hulu.com/watch/159423/greys-an

atomy-a-hard-days-night#s-p3-so-i0

Research• Looked at 6 episodes

– Season 1 Episodes 1+2– Season 4 Episodes 1+2– Season 7 Episodes 1+2

• Focused themes in the content• Units of measurement

– Number of scenes that featured theme

– Amount of air time (mins:secs) that featured theme

Theme Categories

Doctor-Patient Scenes• About the illness• Having to do with getting

through the illness• Having nothing to do with

the illness

Doctor-Doctor Scenes• About personal

life/relationships• When talking about patient• When acting as a

doctor/talking about being a doctor

*Red = Personal life/relationship content

*Purple = Medical content

Season and Episode About the illness(# and total airtime

mins:sec)

Having to do with getting through the

illness(# and total airtime)

Having nothing to do with the illness

(# and total airtime)

Season 1 Episode 1 5 2:11 2 1:36 2 1:17

Season 1 Episode 2 11 5:25 1 0:22 2 1:18

Season 4 Episode 1 7 2:10 6 4:55 1 :30

Season 4 Episode 2 8 4:00 2 :52 5 3:50

Season 7 Episode 1 1 1:03 2 2:49 0 0:00

Season 7 Episode 2 8 5:50 2 1:10 9 5:57

Totals: 40 20:39 15 11:44 19 12:02

Doctor-Patient Scenes

Doctor-Doctor ScenesSeason and Episode About personal

life/relationships(# and total airtime)

When talking about patient(# and total airtime)

When acting as a doctor/talking about being a doctor(# and total airtime)

Season 1 Episode 1 12 9:19 13 19:14 13 10:05

Season 1 Episode 2 15 9:00 15 8:25 17 18:30

Season 4 Episode 1 19 17:34 8 3:32 14 15:22

Season 4 Episode 2 29 25:47 10 3:08 10 5:23

Season 7 Episode 1 32 25:19 1 1:03 4 4:07

Season 7 Episode 2 31 18:44 8 9:38 5 2:12

Totals: 138 105:43 55 42:00 63 55:39

Surgery Scenes and Medical Cases

Season and Episode # of Surgery Scenes # of Medical Cases in Episode

Season 1 Episode 1 5 4Season 1 Episode 2 5 11Season 4 Episode 1 6 4Season 4 Episode 2 3 4Season 7 Episode 1 2 1Season 7 Episode 2 5 3Totals: 26 27

Medical Content vs. Personal Content in Each

Episode Medical Content Personal Drama Content

#of Scenes Airtime # of Scenes Airtime

Season 1 Episode 1 33 34:23 14 10:36

Season 1 Episode 2 144 31:42 17 10:18

Season 4 Episode 1 35 25:59 20 18:04

Season 4 Episode 2 30 12:23 34 29:37

Season 7 Episode 1 23 18:02 32 23:19

Season 7 Episode 2 23 18:50 40 24:46

Totals: 173 129:23 157 117:45

Comparing Content

Total Content From all 6 Episodes

Medical Content (by scene)Personal Drama Content (by scene)

Total Content From all 6 Episodes

Medical Content (air-time)Personal Drama Content (airtime)

Analysis

• Amount of scenes & air time spent on medical themes = amount of scenes & air time spent on personal drama themes

• “Grey’s Anatomy IS a balanced representation of both the medical and dramatic elements of a medical drama