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When the hospital becomes a variety show stage, when the standardized training of medical students becomes a talent show PK, when “holding 10 SCI articles” is packaged as a “cool male protagonist”-style success, this season’s “Heart-warming Offer 8” medical reality show has aroused widespread doubts. Many people in the medical field bluntly said that this is a “heartbreaking offer.”

There are many controversial details in the program: medical students made frivolous diagnostic statements such as “blindly guessing that it was craniopharyngioma”, and also said that “I will not go to clinical practice during my PhD” and “writing medical records is just a routine”; the statement of “participating in level 4 surgery” was deliberately exaggerated to mislead the audience; there were also inappropriate expressions of “advance money for patients”, and interns were confused about the physical examination and other omissions that could cause medical accidents. Under the editing of the camera, these contents are packaged into highlights of the program and dramatic conflicts, and become cheap conversation materials and entrances to traffic.

The biggest problem with this program is not the medical students’ gaffes and omissions, but the entire program’s sense of suspension and serious separation from reality. The medical students in the camera have exquisite make-up, white teeth and red lips, are relaxed and relaxed, but have a dazzling resume, and have the aura of the protagonist of a cool article; but in reality, the training doctors have endless medical records to write and endless wards to check, and they often work for dozens of hours in a row, carrying a heavy load under high pressure. Therefore, many doctors and medical students lament: This is not the real daily routine of training at all. The public can easily be misled by learning about doctors through such content programs, and even exacerbate the gap between doctors and patients.

The root of the problem is that the traffic logic of variety shows to “create stars through talent shows” has forced its way into the medical field, which does not tolerate entertainment; the examination room, where life and death are entrusted, cannot withstand the consumption of variety show routines.

What is intriguing is that “Exciting Offer 3” in the same series has unexpectedly become popular recently. That season did not deliberately create conflicts or build characters, but carefully recorded the growth of doctors: medical students treated elderly patients and patiently completed a full set of neurological examinations for dozens of minutes; some students ranked at the bottom, fell into self-doubt, broke down in tears in front of the camera, and then settled down to read literature and polish reports… The audience saw the growth and sweat on the road to training, understood the long training behind the “sincerity of great doctors”, understood the difficulty of doctors’ growth, and thus narrowed the distance between doctors and patients.

Comparing the two, the contrast is particularly dazzling. This season dives headlong into traffic routines, deliberately creating characters, amplifying conflicts, and filling them with “cool points”, distorting the original appearance of medical student training and shaping medical students into “cool protagonists.”

Variety shows can create dreams, but medicine can never create “gods.” The core pursuit of entertainment programs is the excitement brought by conflicts, reversals, and characters; the background of medicine is prudence, humility, and reverence for life. Or some people defend: This is just an entertainment variety show. However, medical themes have a strong public nature, and the camera is focused on the ward, patients and doctor training, so it naturally shoulders the responsibility of communication. “It’s just entertainment” cannot be used as an excuse and touches the bottom line of professional ethics.

Research in the field of communication studies believes that some reality shows rely on “a sense of reality that they know is false” to complete the substitution of reality, forming an “illusory reality.” If the themes of reality shows are just ordinary couple relationships, traveling to buy groceries, and celebrity embarrassments, then the social harm of this “illusory reality” may not be obvious. When exaggerated reality shows enter the medical community, they may have serious negative consequences.

This is the most dangerous thing about this show: it is not documenting medical students, but reshaping the public’s imagination of doctor training. After watching this show, the public may have questions: Could the doctor who treated them be the very flamboyant “top student” in the real show, holding a pile of papers but neglecting clinical diagnosis and treatment practice? Is the diagnosis the result of a “blind guess”?

The much-criticized medical reality show has exposed the impetuous mentality of some content producers who only follow traffic. When life and health issues are used to gain popularity, the price is society’s trust in doctors. The examination room of life should not be a show; the arduous road to training should not be reduced to an exaggerated talent show by beauty filters.