The hospital drama took home six Emmys during last night’s ceremony, but its biggest win may be how seen it makes real-life doctors and nurses feel.
Image: Dr Michael “Robby” Robinavitch
At the 78th Emmy awards, The Pitt was named Best Drama for the second consecutive year. The series follows a team of emergency healthcare workers, led by Dr Robby (played by Noah Wyle), as they battle gruelling 12-hour shifts.
Each episode unfolds over a single hour of one shift, tackling real-world issues currently affecting the healthcare sector, from underfunding to violence against workers. There are scenes that will make you cry, laugh, clench your fists and avert your eyes, but its realism makes it easy to forget you’re watching actors on a set in California rather than a real emergency department.
When accepting the award for Best Drama, R. Scott Gemmill, creator of The Pitt, said: ‘We’ve always tried to be really authentic and tell stories about the real-life heroes of the emergency department, who are there for us day in and day out. Yes, they’re stories can be frustrating and heartbreaking, but they can also be so inspirational and healing.’
To say Gemmill has succeeded in conveying what life is like in an emergency department would be an understatement. Since the show first premiered in January 2025, some healthcare professionals have claimed it is the most realistic medical drama ever made.
Amanda Choflet, dean of Northeastern University’s School of Nursing and an associate clinical professor, said: ‘Usually with these medical shows, it’s distractingly inept and everybody would be dead in the hospital. [With The Pitt] I just keep waiting for them to make a mistake and they’re not.’
In similar vein, Dr Andrew Meyerson, an American-born A&E medic in London, told the Guardian: ‘The Pitt is the most accurate portrayal of life in an American A&E department I’ve ever seen on television. I grew up in an American healthcare family watching Doogie Howser MD, ER, Scrubs and Greys Anatomy. For those of us in the game, The Pitt is something different.’
When creating the show, the production team sent the cast to a compulsory two-week medical boot camp. Gerran Howell, who plays fourth-year medical student Dennis Whitaker, said this was to make sure the ‘whole show is built on medical accuracy’.
He told the BBC: ‘When we have a trauma scene, a big complicated scene, we’re really taken through that in terms of choreography. Every instrument that we’re holding, we’re told its purpose and, you know, maybe given some stories.’
‘Everything in The Pitt looked exactly like it is in real life’
Alongside its Emmy wins, The Pitt also received the Culture of Health Award at the 2025 Norman Lear Awards. At the ceremony, researchers from the USC Norman Lear Center shared findings showing the drama helped viewers better understand what medical care is really like.
The study was commissioned through the Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health & Society programme, which works with the show’s producers to ensure its portrayal of emergency medicine is as accurate as possible.
Almost nine in 10 viewers said The Pitt was both entertaining and educational. The drama also helped them better understand the pressures staff face and how empathy can make a difference to patient care.
Image: night shift doctors at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center
One retired nurse, who was involved in the research, said: ‘Everything in The Pitt looked exactly like it is in real life.’
Another pediatric ER doctor added: ‘I was grateful for finally feeling seen. I felt like the pediatric cases are just…they’re accurate. They’re not too dramatic, it was just my life.’
The research, which can be read in full here, also shows some storylines can stay with people long after the credits roll. Those who watched episodes about organ donation and end-of-life care were more likely to discuss their wishes with loved ones.
Around 27% of people who watched the organ donation storyline sought more information, rising to almost 39% among those who watched the end-of-life storyline.
The study also includes a story from executive producer Dr Joe Sachs about a physician who had watched the series and experienced its impact first-hand.
‘I was working a night shift in the ER at two in the morning and a 92-year-old woman with a heart attack came in and was not doing well,’ the physician said. ‘The family said, you know doctor, you can stop right there. We’ve been watching The Pitt and we’ve seen how much suffering can be caused by resuscitation efforts when there’s no meaningful hope’.
The cast and crew of The Pitt are now working on its third season, which is due to arrive in January next year. One viewer, who has worked as a paramedic since 2006 has perfectly summed up it’s appeal.
Writing on Reddit, they said: ‘As a flight paramedic and a paramedic since 2006, I can confidently say this is one of the most realistic medical shows/dramas I have ever seen.
‘There are, of course, going to be a little tiny things that might not be perfectly realistic, but not only are they as realistic as they can be, they show things to normal people that are never seen. I recommend the show to anybody I can as it’s well worth it.’
Images: Warrick Page/HBO Max
Other features:
‘Disabled people are being regarded as an expensive luxury’: Mik Scarlet on disability rights
‘Everybody needs somebody rooting for them’: Emma Williamson on supporting care-experienced children
Leave a Reply