Skip to contents
In This Issue:
Catch the first episode during two advance screenings at BWH June 21, noon and 1 p.m., Bornstein Amphitheater. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis.
As a second year resident in OB/GYN, Rachel Clark, MD, never expected that she would appear on a national primetime television series. But an ABC camera crew began following her for hours at a time, capturing the intricacies of her role as a resident on nights and her personal life at home.
“We take care of some of the sickest obstetrics patients in the country, and it will be good for people to see what we are capable of doing,” said Clark, who became a fourth-year chief resident of OB/GYN this week. “More personally, it wasn’t lost on me that for the first time in my life, my parents will get to see what I do.”
BWH, along with Mass General Hospital and Children’s Hospital, opened its doors to ABC cameras in 2009, allowing the documentary crew to capture more than 2,500 hours of unscripted footage through unprecedented access to the life inside these nationally-renowned institutions. The ABC series, called “Boston Med,” premieres on ABC (Boston’s Channel 5) Thursday, June 24, at 10 p.m. The primetime medical documentary series will run Thursdays at 10 p.m. for eight consecutive weeks.
“This is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on our talented teams who strive each day to make a difference in a city that is internationally respected for its renowned academic medical centers,” said BWH President Betsy Nabel, MD.
The first episode will feature a double-lung transplant at BWH, and another episode will go behind the scenes of the nation’s second face transplant at BWH, following both the recipient and the donor.
Many BWHers are excited not only for the opportunity to see their colleagues on primetime national television, but also for the message it will send to patients across the country.
“I hope the series gives patients out there hope that there is a potential treatment for them,” said David Dolan, RN, nursing director of the Thoracic Intensive Care Unit, where cameras followed several lung transplant patients and clinicians. “I also hope it increases awareness of the need for organ donation, which is very important.”
While Susan Gabriel, RN, is pretty certain she avoided the cameras, she saw them film extensively in the Cardiac Surgery ICU as they followed patients.
“They were very respectful, and they really did a nice job capturing a moment because they were there in the background,” she said. “I think this is an exceptional hospital, and I hope the series portrays that.”
Though Clark is nervous to see how she is portrayed in the series, she is excited about certain moments that the cameras captured, in particularly a life-saving Cesarean-section that doctors performed.
Her parents, who will be watching from their home in Kentucky, are excited to see the series; her father watches ABC constantly just for the commercials, she said. “And when he saw my trailer on youtube.com, he had to take the whole day off!”
Read the latest updates on the series, including interviews with BWH staff and new videos, all summer long: BWHPikeNotes.org/BostonMed
Comments
Email Address:
Subject:
Comment: {Please limit your charaters to 300}