From the official Website
“About NY Med
What do grandmothers, addicts and celebrities have in common? All of them seek care at Columbia and Weill Cornell Medical Centers the crown jewels of the prestigious New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. For a full year ABC cameras had unprecedented access to document the mayhem and the miracles that occur daily in these world class facilities. Adding a Brooklyn dimension, Lutheran Medical Center also participated. The eight-part series, from the producers of HOPKINS and BOSTON MED, is a raw and intimate look at life inside these hospitals where doctors spend far more time with each other than with their families, developing complicated and intertwined personal relationships.”
My Review
I finally got a chance to sit down and watch NY Med on HULU and my first impression of it was that it was your basic reality show with the same formula and look as every other show you’ve seen. The difference here is that you can actually feel like you care about these people because they aren’t all competing or trying to get something out of the show besides living and being happy.
The great thing about this show is that since it’s based in New York City, like most shows honestly, you feel like you’re watching your neighbors at some points, unfortunately it’s only SOMEtimes. I say unfortunately,because I was mostly excited to see the hospital that is close to home, and a place where most of my friends and family and myself visit often, and what I have seen so far in the first episode is that almost none of the people shown as patients are even from the neighborhood, some not even from New York. Now I am not mad that people from outside find this place to be an elite hospital, I’m proud of it actually, but you can imagine the excitement I felt when I read in the Manhattan Times that our hospital was going to have it’s own show.
The patients and the hospital employees in the show are all pretty entertaining and the dynamic between each other are sometimes really funny and just feels real and not forced for the camera. One scene when Dr OZ completed Mr. Abrahams’s surgery alongside Dr. Argenziano, Dr. Argenziano joked that his hands should be in mahogany boxes because they are so good they need to be protected. This scene reminded me of a show that I grew to love, even though it wasn’t a perfect show by far, Scrubs. There were some crazy patients too, like one man who said he would do anything in his power, including going to the hospital, to avoid going to jail.
Overall the show was pretty much standard in the look and feel, even the music was pretty cheesy, but I would keep watching this just to see what happens, especially with the beautifully musically inclined surgeon, Arundi Mahendran. Nothing is really “happening” with her but I just like her as a person.
One thing that really disappointed me, but didn’t surprise me, was that most of the B-Roll used of the city was downtown, except for the shots of the actual hospital, and after 25 minutes of watching the show, they finally show the George Washington Bridge and part of the Heights, but pointed towards the hospital again. I guess Uptown isn’t pretty enough for the cameras. They also did not have one Latino person on the show, besides some background employees, I think, and seeing that it’s located in the 3rd capital of Dominican Republic, it’s pretty unrealistic. Then again, I already know the audience they are trying to pull in so it’s not surprising at all.
I do recommend it if you have nothing else to watch, but if Breaking Bad is on, forget this one haha.
Check out the first episode below.
I do enjoy seeing the interactions between the all of the people that work at the hospital. They do spend more time there than anywhere else. I currently work at Dish to put myself through medical school and it is nice having an idea of what I am looking forward to. I am happy I can catch it on my phone or else I would never have time to watch it. When the day feels too long I just watch NY med on my Dish Remote Access app for a little inspiration. It doesn’t make me less tired but it does help.
I have to be honest, the interactions you see in the show are pretty much the best interactions you will see. Not saying that there aren’t great people in the hospital, but I’ve been there a couple of times and not all of the staff is that nice looking or friendly. It’s a great hospital overall, and you will like it there, but the show so far has only showed a very small and one sided aspect of the place. Good luck out there and let us know when you do make it!