Review: The Pitt

Watching Noah Wyle on screen in an ER is like welcoming back an old friend, except now , it is not set in Cook county General Hospital, Chicago, but the “The Pitt” an emergency room in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He is now more jaded, and he has aged.

As an Emergency Physician, ER was one of the best medical dramas I ever watched, in fact I wonder if it played a role in me choosing my vocation. Over the past 20 years, I haven’t found a close second. But I might have found it in “The Pitt” now showing on Max.

The show opens with Noah Wyle (Robby ) entering the ER, greeted by chaos. This is an all too familiar scene in the everyday life of an emergency physician – it is like feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders everytime you start a shift. Same BS, just a different day.

Some scenes are so familiar. Nurses speaking over the doctor in a foreign language, the crazy naked patient running around, the overenthusiastic residents and medical students – who cluelessly ask – is it usually so busy? – only to be met with (eye roll), a remark from a senior – it gets much busier.

The medical scenes are unnervingly accurate, the shifting camera reflecting the multiple distractions in the ER. For a moment, I felt I was back at work. I felt slightly nauseated from the stress.

What resonated most though, was the part where Noah Wyle (Robby) met his colleague who had just completed a night shift on this hospital roof. His colleague was despondent, having just lost a young patient to a motor accident. He contemplates the brevity of life after spending the last two hours coding him and wonders he can find the strength to continue this career.

Robby remarks, “This is the job that keeps on giving nightmares, ulcers and suicidal tendencies.” How true this is.

I look forward to what the rest of the episodes have to offer. It will be an opportunity for emergency staff to watch an ER shift as spectators and reflect why we keep going back everday. It will be an opportunity for the rest of the world to understand what actually goes on in " the Pitt" . In the show, the team takes a minute of silence after every patient death to show respect. Do we even have time to grief ? It is so realistic that I suggest you do not watch it if you need a break from work . You will be better off watching the suave surgeon on "The Trauma code - Heroes on call" currently the top show on Netflix.

“ The Pitt” is now showing on HBO Max

Shin Ying works as an emergency physician and medical educator at Changi General Hospital . Most of the time though , she is dreaming of what to paint and read next . You can visit her website to check out her portfolio.