When it comes to reality TV, it’s not enough to feature only regular people. No, these people have to be genuine characters. So, on the latest reality series offering from The Learning Channel (TLC) you have Jim Bob, the good old Southern boy who rips up mountains in his monster truck. Then there’s Chuck, the doughnut fiend who reluctantly answers to the name Sugar Britches. And Adele -- a seemingly normal young woman -- who’s given to such declarations as, "It’s a privilege for someone to let you cut them open and mess around with their insides."
But the twist in this show isn’t that the contestants are vying to be the last survivor, ace the amazing race, or marry someone’s millionaire dad. Jim Bob, Adele, and Sugar Britches are starring in Resident Life, a 13-episode series devoted to the grit and glamour of medical residency. The show, shot at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville earlier this year, premiered Monday at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) on TLC.
While radiology residents didn’t make the cut as featured players, they will pop up throughout various episodes, promised Michael Klein, the executive producer of Resident Life.
"We met a lot of really terrific radiology residents, actually," Klein said. "We’re still in post-production so they will keep cropping up, especially when we focus on some of the ER cases. We do spend a scene or two in the radiology department."
One radiology resident admitted to AuntMinnie that the Resident Life camera crew had tailed him for a few days, but in a sudden fit of bashfulness, the resident declined to be interviewed for this article.
The specialties of the 16 main cast members run the gamut from obstetrics to pediatrics to pathology. Klein pegged two doctors-in-training as potential breakout stars: Dr. Rachel LaMar, a first year OB/GYN resident, and Dr. Pilar Levy, who is in the second year of her pediatrics residency.
"Rachel LaMar is really entertaining. When you see the show, one of her first lines is, ‘More than trying to save lives, I’m just trying not to kill anyone.’ She’s just got these hysterical lines that really define the (residency) experience," Klein enthused.
As for Levy, she works alongside her husband, Dr. Victor Levy, a first year pediatric cardiology fellow. In addition to raising two small children, the Levys are contending with the recent death of a third child.
"The relationship that she has with her husband is fantastic: both doctors, raising two children. We actually went home with them a few times just to get sense of how they keep it together there as well," he said.
While drama is inevitable given the subject matter, Resident Life won’t devolve into a low-rent soap opera. The majority of action will take place at the medical center. One of the most tension-filled episodes comes on the heels of an explosion and fire at a fiberglass plant in nearby Corbin, KY.
"That was one of the most difficult episodes," Klein said. "A number of the burn victims were brought to Vanderbilt. We were there in the helicopters, going to Kentucky to pick up some of the wounded, and with our team of residents, waiting for the incoming. The energy in that room was incredible. You had this group of people like horses at the gate. The emotional wear and tear that it had on them was very moving, and they allowed us to capture it."
Klein concurred that there’s no shortage of documentaries, dramas, and sitcoms on the air, which capture monumental medical moments (TLC already has three others). But those programs tend give equal time to both the patients and the physicians. In comparison, Resident Life will be all doc, all the time.
"What we wanted to do is take it to the next level, which is getting more into the heads of the doctors themselves," he explained. "On a lot of these shows, you see the stoic doctor dealing with a patient and being very informed in their treatment. Then they leave and you stay with the patient. Now we’re following (the doctors) out of the room to really get a sense of what’s going on in their minds."
Klein also said he expects Resident Life to change some preconceived notions the public might have about the medical profession, i.e. big paychecks, cushy hours, and lots of golf.
"It’s a world I hadn’t even considered before I did the show. All the years it takes them to get out of residency," he said. "(Cardiothoracic surgical fellow) Frank Scholl is in his tenth year -- 10 years! It’s wild. And these are young people, some in their early 20s. It’s amazing, the responsibility that they have. Doctors are the heroes of our culture."
By Shalmali PalAuntMinnie.com staff writer
September 8, 2003
Related Reading
More medical students favor lifestyle over money, September 3, 2003
Medical students live longer than law, arts, and even divinity students, August 1, 2003
Accreditation body sets medical residents' work time limit at 80 hours a week, February 19, 2003
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