#or the actual real life medical malpractice but that's not as funny

[willlmesh]

i'm noticing a theme in some of my favorite characters and it's medical malpractice

[the-faultofdaedalus]

i think a house/leverage crossover would be Really Funny especially if it’s something a la the gang tried to convince this dude he’s got some terrible zombie disease. they try this shit in PP in some section of abandoned rooms (they’re doing it at night so they’re not caught) but since house is a Weirdo he’s still In The Building, sees them, starts tailing these freaks, figures out what they’re doing

and then for the first time in his fucking life voluntarily puts on a white coat to barge into the room where they’re all conning this guy (and they’re So worried that. oh no they’re fucked there’s an actual doctor here to bust us—)

except then he starts PLAYING ALONG! making this shit more believable! somehow gets this guy in an MRI but shows him scans from someone who’s WAY more fucked up! possibly even drugs him who knows

the leverage crew does not understand wtf is going on. hardison checked him out he’s a real doctor. they know that. so WHY is he doing THIS

meanwhile house is having more fun than he’s had in months because he can commit medical malpractice as MUCH as he wants, knowing that since this guy technically isn’t a patient and isn’t admitted at this hospital and legally isn’t even here he can’t sue the hospital

[leaf-kei]

I wish u hadn’t hidden this take in the tags bc it’s SO TRUE!!

A character doing bad things doesn't necessarily KNOW they’re bad or enjoy being evil. Characters can have a totally different perception of morality than the audience and people around them… imo, Medic’s kindness doesn’t conflict with his medical malpractice because he genuinely doesn’t think it’s mean to experiment on his friends or cause them pain. Because he’s completely confident in his methods and ultimate goals, experimentation is care to him; healing someone’s wounds and stabbing their heart in an attempt to supercharge it are basically the same thing.

TF2’s canon material is always trying to emphasize the funny contrast between Medic’s genuine sweetness and the gory way he expresses it. Here are a few examples off the top of my head to convince anyone reading this lol:

Meet the Medic is basically all about Heavy coming to realize (and accept) this fact about Medic over the course of his über surgery. Medic naturally flicks between being an amicable doctor and a mad scientist; he’s literally both things at the same time.

Spy’s head in the fridge is obviously a horrifying abomination, but Medic’s apparently given him a pack of cigarettes and an ashtray to keep him occupied. The idea that a small comfort like that could cancel out the harm he's caused shows how little Medic appreciates the gravity of what he does to people.

The maniacal laughter as Heavy’s heart charges up followed seamlessly by a cheerful “oh! That looks good!”

He chides Heavy for being a baby when his rib breaks—he doesn’t see the suffering he causes to people he likes as real or important (either because of insanity, his desensitization to medical pain, or both)

In the Gargoyles & Gravel comic, Medic experiments on a guy who tried to mug him in an alley, but he does it in a very specific way.

He must understand on some level that having your brain separated from your body is somewhat uncomfortable, so he seeks out a subject who he thinks could do with a bit of punishment. However, once the procedure’s over, Medic calls pumpkin guy “my beautiful creation” and “my little monster,” terms of endearment that seem genuine paired with his good-natured smile… he even says the latter in German, basically talking to himself.

Medic keeps emphasizing that this new existence as a pumpkin is a positive change and a chance for the mugger to turn his life around—that’s obviously insane, but I think Medic genuinely believes it, seeing what he did as both a mild punishment and a gift. When pumpkin guy retorts that he’s gonna kill him, Medic’s disappointed that the procedure didn’t fix his criminality, not even considering that his anger could be a RESULT of what he did. That little exchange really reveals how Medic sees his own work imo… if someone told him his experiments were evil, he’d probably respond with confusion, shrugging it off as them simply not understanding the reality of the situation.

It’s worth mentioning that in the end, the pumpkin guy becomes a mob boss, kinda vindicating Medic’s actions. Thinking abt this plotline is making me so uncomfortable but THE COMIC DOESN’T TAKE THE BODY HORROR SERIOUSLY AT ALL OK

His second opinion cosmetic makes the contrast between his kindness and cruelty literally physical. He responds to S.O.’s evil lines in a level-headed and friendly way, and gets annoyed at S.O. in the way you’d get annoyed at a sibling.

Even the TF Comics, which seem to really enjoy the heehoo evil doctor aspect of Medic, have to acknowledge the disconnect between his outward behavior and actual personality; when Sniper calls him out for looking super evil, it turns out that he was actually just happy. That’s how Medic smiles! Smug and evil!

…The only thing that throws a wrench into this read is that he threatens his opponents with medical experimentation during combat, lol. All his in-game voice lines are about how he’s going to cut his enemies apart, how his procedures are excruciating, etc… if you listened to his voice lines and nothing else, you would end up with the common fanon interpretation of Medic as an evil sadist, so I kinda get it. Are these voice lines at odds with his characterization in other canon media? I don’t know, maybe… I wonder if his nice-guy complexity was only decided on later during Meet the Medic’s production, and he originally WAS a more straightforward violent maniac…

In the end, I guess you could read the times he shows kindness to others as just an act or a sadistic taunt or manipulation, but I dunno, that’s just much less interesting to me than a character that has some conceptual contrast at the core of him. There’s so little canon content to go off of that you can kinda read all TF2 characters any way you want (which is cool!), but personally I hope the sweet aspects of Medic are preserved in any future stuff from Valve.

It irritates me alot when people say that making medic more compassionate is ''missing the point of his character'' when he is literally shown to be in the comics.... did you miss the part where he showed concern for both sniper and miss pauling's well being in comic 5 and 6.

His actions are a combination of genuine attachment + clinical interest and these things do not cancel out one another. He is always pushing boundaries and going against the grain and i think this is what led to him losing his license in the first place. He felt stifled by the rules imposed on him.

He is shown to be extremely passionate so it makes sense that he would use his endless fascination with medicine as a way to show his affection. He loves his friends so he will find a way to make them borderline indestructible. Malpractice is his love language.

[mermaidsirennikita]

You recently mentioned a podcast that did a episode (or episodes?) on princess Diana, can you tell me the name of it I can't seem to find that post? Also any podcasts you are listening to that you recommend? Tnx!

Yes, for sure!

The podcast is You’re Wrong About--they do a 5 part series on Diana, but cover a hugely varied range of topics and people.  The general premise is that Mike and Sarah are close friends and also journalists, and each episode will have one research a topic and then basically debunk the general preconceptions society has about the subject. They talk a lot about political topics or recurring media issues...  Off the top of my head, I’d recommend the series on Diana, but also their ongoing O.J. Simpson series (which has recently had new episodes uploaded), the 2 parter on Tonya Harding, the Anna Nicole Smith episode, and their series on Jessica Simpson’s memoir...  Lol it’s a very varied podcast but if you’re interested in misunderstood women, it’s great.

I read a lot of romance novels and listen to podcasts that kind of tackle romance as a genre and offer recommendations.  Heaving Bosoms, in which two close friends Erin and Melody keep their friendship alive by reading and recapping romance novels together, is HILARIOUS.  Their chemistry is great and you never have to read the book to enjoy their recaps, which I enjoy.  The other romance novel podcast I love is Fated Mates, which is done by Sarah MacLean, a bestselling historical romance novelist, and Jen Prokop, a romance critic.  It’s also very funny and makes me think a lot about media that is made for female consumption.  I also get a ton of book recommendations off that podcast, as they kind of go topic by topic versus book by book.

If you like true crime, gotta recommend All Killa No Filla--it’s done by Rachel Fairburn and Kiri Pritchard-McLean, two English comediennes and friends who basically run down a serial killer every episode.  They detail the crimes very frankly, but always provide warnings and are frankly hilarious.  But the interesting thing is that I never feel as if they lose their empathy or are exploitative, and you can tell that they make a real effort to learn and be respectful of people (I don’t like My Favorite Murder, but I like this, for context).  For example, in early episodes (from like 5 years ago) they use the term “prostitutes” a lot, and have since discussed why that’s incorrect and have switched to “sex workers”.

In terms of True Crime, I would also recommend Over My Dead Body, which is a Wondery podcast that kind of devotes different seasons to different vendetta type crimes that gradually explode.  This actually covered the Tiger King story way before Netflix ever did (and imo, covers it better).  But there’s also another season about a pair of lawyers divorcing--it’s just good.

Dr. Death is really good.  There are two seasons, and both are about different doctors that committed gross medical malpractice.  It’s a great look at the fucked up conditions in the American medical system that allow these doctors to get away with horrible crimes.  Bad Batch is another Wondery podcast with a similar topic; but it’s less about singular doctors and more about companies that produce stem cells and one instance in which people were horribly injured by their greed and incompetence.  There’s also The Drop Out, which is about the Elizabeth Holmes scandal.

The Secret Room is a weird but fun little indie podcast in which the host basically listens to people telling their secrets that can range from like, “I was in a BDSM master/slave relationship for seven years” to “my family was prominent in the KKK”.

You Must Remember This is a podcast on Old Hollywood and the various secrets therein.  Different seasons focus on different topics--my favorite is Jane and Jean, with contrasts the life of Jane Fonda to that of Jean Seberg.  Fun fact: the podcast host is Karina Longworth, who is married to Rian Johnson.

I really like Jonathan Van Ness’s Getting Curious podcast.  He explores different topics and interviews experts about basically anything and everything.  Kind of like You’re Wrong About, it’s a good shot of information about just about everything.  

Hope you can find something fun here! :)

[wienerbarnes]

Whatever It Takes (2/6)

Pairing: Bucky x Doctor!Reader

Word Count: 1,519

Prompt: Doctor AU

Warnings: Descriptions of disease symptoms, funny stuff

A/N: yay chapter two! thank you to everyone who showed me love on the first chapter and left the sweetest comments! 

SERIES MASTERLIST

Your loud James Brown and the Famous Flames ringtone interrupts the silence of the quinjet on the way to Avengers tower. Bucky feels a vein about to pop in his forehead as he glances up from his book in his seat across from you as you pull your phone from your pocket to see Abraham calling. He watches you glance at the screen as you pick out the pretzels in your teeth with your tongue.

“I thought you said you left your phone in your office?” Bucky questions, annoyed wrinkle in between his eyebrows.

“Just wanted to see if you’d be able to tell if I was lying.” You respond mischievously as you answer the phone and put it on speaker.

“Inspector Gadget speaking,” You greet as Bucky continues to stare at you.

“Where are you?” Comes Abrahams voice through the speaker, excitement poking through his voice.

“I’m on a top secret mission for the Avengers.” You inform as you kick your feet up on the corner of Bucky’s arm rest across from you. Bucky rolls his eyes and glances back down to the book he was reading.

“… Right. CT, history, and tox screens came back normal.” Jordan tells you.

“Her tendon reflexes seemed a bit weak to me, though.” Abraham argues.

“Areflexia could mean Miller Fisher.” You infer.

“Yes, Areflexia could mean Miller Fisher, but since her reflexes were weak and not absent, it means nothing, I’m releasing her. You can get back to your strip tease or Avengers-themed orgy or whatever it is your doing with your cosplay buddy.” Jordan states.

“You think the Avengers would allow such-“ You’re cut off by the dial tone as Jordan hangs up the phone.

…

Bucky leads you through the modern looking hallways of the Avengers tower and you sneak peeks into the many labs that line either side of the hallway. Large screens, cases and cases of tubes and containers with various liquids in them, even the hospital beds look like the most luxurious cots that money could buy. They probably are the most luxurious cots money can buy, you think. You finally reach an office at the far end of the hall and Bucky opens the door for you.

Inside you find Bruce Banner sitting behind a desk looking over various files and papers. He glances up at the sound of the door, removes his glasses, and stands to greet you.

“Dr. Bruce Banner. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Doctor, especially on such short notice.” Dr. Banner holds out his hand and you shake it gratefully.

“P-pleasure’s all mine. You’re Bruce Banner.” You ogle at him. First an invitation to the Avengers Tower and now you’re standing in front of the Bruce Banner?

Bucky smirks, amusement clouding his face as he takes notice of your admiration. It’s hilarious to him to see how fast your sarcastic and immature exterior melts into a star-struck, stuttering mess. It’s… endearing, almost.

“Oh! This is Dr. Curtis from the Mayo Clinic,” Banner gestures to a middle-aged woman sitting in a chair in front of the desk. Glasses hanging around her neck with a dark blue blouse and black slacks on her body, she stands and shakes your hand, too.

“Dr. Sydney Curtis on Immunology, Dr. Curtis?” You confirm.

“Oh, you’ve read it?”

“No, but it is keeping my piano level in my apartment.” You inform. Dr. Curtis’ smile drops and you see Dr. Banner’s eyebrow quirk upwards and Bucky stifle a laugh and disguise it as a cough from his position near the door.

“So, where is the poor, sick fella?”

…

“I’m afraid there will be some limitations on his medical history. Just let me know what you need and I’ll try my best to provide.”

Dr. Banner leads Bucky, Dr. Curtis, and yourself down a different hallway, presumably towards the Agent’s room.

“F-Y-I, my medical malpractice insurance doesn’t cover alien autopsies.” You tease.

“Don’t worry, all of that stuff is the next wing over.” Bucky chimes in, sending you a wink when you turn your head to look at him. He finds you more amusing now that you’re annoying more people than just him. Your wit is always clever and you always seem to know the perfect thing to say to push everybody’s buttons and make him laugh.

“Where was the patient when he fell ill?” Dr. Curtis asks.

“I’m afraid that’s classified. Assume there aren’t many places John hasn’t been. And, yes, John is a cover name.”

“Well, why do think it was an attempt on his life?” Curtis tries.

“We can’t tell you that either.” Banner replies, stopping front of one of the white rooms along the hallway.

“Well, what can you tell us?” Curtis asks.

“Yeah, did Oswald really have sex with Marilyn Monroe?” You ask. Bucky smiles and opens the door, leading in first followed by Dr. Banner, yourself, and Dr. Curtis.

Walking into the dimly lit room finds everyone staring at the frail looking man laying in the hospital bed. Pale skin, open sores, bruises, skin almost looking like it had bubbles forming it over it. Redness covers what’s visible of his body; arms, neck, and face. Dark circles surround his closed eyes and lips are cracked beyond belief.

“Good Lord,” Curtis whispers.

“Very professional,” You huff and throw a disapproving glance at Dr. Curtis.

“Five days ago he was 185 pounds,” Banner begins. “Perfect health.”

Silence fills the room as everyone observes the sick agent in the bed, wondering what could possibly cause this amount of damage in such a short amount of time.

“Cool.” You exclaim.

Banner walks over to the stack of files sitting on the small table at the end of the bed. He hands one to both you and Dr. Curtis and you realize it’s Agent John’s file, or at least a file with any information they’ll give you.

“We’ve tested him for every poison, every metal, and every biological agent we can think of.” Banner informs.

“It says in here that he ate a lot of chestnuts.” Curtis states, reading through the file in her hands.

“Woah, woah, woah. If the squirrel liberation army is involved in this, I want no part. Those little rodents will-“ You begin to mock.

“Horse chestnuts are poisonous, if someone switched-“ Curtis begins to explain but you interrupt her.

“Horse chestnuts may look like chestnuts but they taste like a horse’s lower-than-chestnuts. Which makes the theory that he ate a couple hundred a tad unlikely.” You argue. You don’t ignore the fact that both Bucky and Banner are both failing to hide their smiles at the banter between you and Curtis. You want to be professional around a very handsome, brooding soldier and the doctor that inspired you to study medicine, but Dr. Curtis is making it very difficult.

You close the file and pace slowly around the room. “Seeing as he was prowling the streets of… Tehran?” You guess.

“Actually it was the streets of- Oops! You almost got me.” Bucky faces you with a sarcastic grin.

“Unless you can tell us the environmental factors or any poisonous fauna-“

“Which you know I can’t do-“

“You might as well just Google, ‘poison’!” You respond defeatedly. You’ve solved difficult cases before, but this is turning out to be a real puzzle.

“The only thing they would tell me is that he’s spent the last eleven months in Bolivia.” Bucky compromises, arms crossing over his large chest. He wants to help, he really does. He cares about this agent; he cares about all the agents he’s trained and watched become great heroes. Especially after requesting to be taken off missions, he’s been lucky to be put in charge of training any and all incoming agents and helping Sam assign them to missions.

“Who are you gonna kill in Bolivia?” You question, brows furrowed on your face.

Bucky rolls his eyes as Dr. Curtis chimes in, “What does it matter what he was doing? He’s dying!”

“Not anymore, it’s pancreatitis.” You say as you slump down into one of the bedside chairs.

“He’s not an alcoholic.” Banner informs you.

“And unless his pancreas is in his fingertips-“ Curtis sarcastically states, looking to Bucky to see if his expression matches the annoyed one of Curtis herself, but he’s only staring at you, curious about your thought process.

“Spies can’t get fungal infections?” You ask.

“What about the burns on his skin?” Banner inquires.

“Spies can’t get sunburns? Bolivia doesn’t have sun?” You joke, catching Bucky’s eye as he chuckles softly at your reasoning.

“So either we go with her theory of the non-drinking drunk, which is totally unreasonable, or the theory that someone poisoned him with the resources to make it completely untraceable.” Curtis argues.

Banner looks between you and Dr. Curtis, gears running a million miles per minute in his brain trying to think of what to do.

“Let’s, uh, let’s treat him for radiation poisoning.” Banner says as he begins walking towards the door. You roll your eyes and stand to follow him, Dr. Curtis, and Bucky out of the room again.

TAGS: @thefvcker-tucker @angel-fire @gagmebucky @hannie-writes-marvel @unicorniorosacomefrutillas @creepylittlemarvelgirl @spiderrpcrker

[annieisyourfavourite]

alright, you know what, i’m just mad enough that i’ll get into this right now

you wanna know how your insensitive “lmao diabeetus” jokes actually have a negative effect on diabetics?

in making these jokes, you’re contributing to a society that is keen on equating sugar/fatness = diabetes. in doing so, there’s a few outcomes that we can expect. one is misdiagnosis or lack of diagnosis due to a host of stupid, avoidable things. here’s an article about a young man dying of undiagnosed t1 diabetes. in the article, it talks about how one of the main reasons nobody suspected anything was wrong was because this man's rapid weight loss, which is a classic tell-tale symptom of diabetes, was written off as a positive thing because hey, weight loss!! and why would anyone suspect that LOSING weight is tied to diabetes? diabetes is a fat man’s illness, no? (fatphobia has it’s place in medical malpractice as well, but that’s a different issue for a different post). it also starts becoming a problem when thin people or young young kids display symptoms but aren’t readily diagnosed because nobody actually understands the warning signs of diabetes or how deadly it can be, especially when they think hey, i’m thin or healthy, there’s no way i can contract diabetes. it’s the farthest thing from anyone’s mind.

it also just in general creates a culture that doesn’t want to know anything about the 6th biggest killer of people in america. it’s writing off a serious, fatal, life-long disease in a way that makes it hard for people to have any real information about it. i’ll tell you, even people who have known me for years still have such a basic, rudimentary understanding of diabetes, and it’s because we don’t talk about it. everyone is taught in schools what to do if someone has heart problems in public, but where’s the education in case someone falls low or is suffering from DKA? nondiabetics rarely even know what those things are. and it’s because we don’t take diabetes seriously in america, we don’t. we have incredibly popular tv shows like brooklyn nine-nine and parks and rec making jokes about how diabetes is a silly, mockable disease that only afflicts sad, fat people who are obsessed with eating, and boom, suddenly that’s the only exposure the american public has to diabetes. and in making those same jokes, in constantly equating diabetes = unhealthy eating, sugary food, stupid overweight people who bring it on themselves, you’re contributing to a culture that is prone to kill me should i ever need medical help from someone other than a trained professional.

also, in addition to all that, you’re perpetuating a hostile environment towards diabetics. if you only ever talk about diabetes in an “lmao aren’t diabetics funny?” way, you’re effectively cutting off any possibility of trust or real conversation from the diabetics you interact with. trust me, if someone starts saying that shit in front of me, even after i clap back, i remember that. i remember who i can’t trust to take me or my fatal disease seriously. i have never kept a friend who has made any sort of offensive diabetes joke. because, hey, my existence is not a joke, thanks.

so cut that shit out. there are real, serious consequences for the people around you, and if i have to read, “if johnny has 35 candy bars...” ever again, i’m gonna go absolutely batshit.

[tinamaetales]

Who is the real stranger?

I know I’ve already posted a blog about Doctor Stranger but I just can’t help but write another one and this time I would like to discuss each of the characters’ impact (somehow?) on me. This is more like a reflective approach on it. I’ll try my best to communicate my ideas properly...please bear with me.

And also, this is full of spoilers

As I’ve discussed before, Doctor Stranger is a medical-romance drama with Dr. Park Hoon (portrayed by Lee Jong Suk) as the main character. The story revolves around him trying to find his great love whom he lost contact with years ago and at the same time surviving the “politics” in the hospital.

For me though, the characters are strangers in their own right.

Dr. Park Hoon. In North Korea (where he and his father were ‘kidnapped’), he is a great cardiothoracic surgeon. Although during this times you can feel that he only became one because he had no choice; seems like there’s always a gun pointed towards his head each time he did a surgery. He’s great, no doubts with that but the “passion” for what he’s doing is not there. Events happened and his life turned upside down again: his father died, he lost contact with Jae Hee and he finally went back to his original home, South Korea. 

On the next episode we can see that from the serious and kinda snobby genius cardiothoracic surgeon, Park Hoon became a goofy but penniless Doctor. Heck, he even ended up in jail one time. It seems like he almost lost everything, but one thing remained, his profession — him being a doctor. 

Being desparate in reuniting with his true love, Hoon does everything in order to earn money...even if it means he has to work as a surgeon at the hospital where his father used to work before they were kidnapped. Despite having money as his motivation to work, Hoon does his best in order to make sure that he saves the lives of his patient.....even if it means going against a lot of hospital protocol #ThugLife. 

Park Hoon is a stranger because most of the time he loses his translation as to why he really did become a doctor.

Dr. Han Jae Joon. His introduction to the show was epic: we can see him doing a surgery and being so good at it (right at that moment I knew that he will be a tough competitor of Park Hoon). He got his medical degree from Harvard University. Also, he’s got great people on his surgical team. Although great at being a surgeon, you can still feel that something is “off” with him. Most of the time, he’s “cold” One thing that you would notice is the fact that he has a lot of “toy figures” of tall buildings; the biggest was a castle. Often, he is seen putting blocks on that castle; he says it helps him concentrate and train for his surgery. Another shady thing about him is his closeness towards the daughter of Myung Woo hospital chairman. 

Jae Joon is a stranger because his hidden agenda is stronger than his willingness to fulfill his duties as a doctor.

Dr. Han Seung Hee. The woman who looks a lot like Jae Hee. She came from Myung Woo hospital’s branch but was then later transferred to the main hospital because of her skills. She’s an an anesthesiologist; she later became a part of Dr. Park Hoon’s team. It was then later revealed that she’s actually Jae Hee and is currently under a secret mission.

Seung Hee is a stranger too, and I think it’s for the same reasons as Jae Joon although their intentions differ. 

Dr. Oh Soo Hyun. She’s the daughter of the chairman of Myung Woo hospital. She’s also from the cardiothoracic department. I would like to refer to her as a prisoner, someone who despite having it all in life (she’s rich, has a good career, etc...) something else is still missing and those things are what make her a prisoner for she earns for that freedom to be free in order to get that “missing” aspect. She’s a prisoner of her father’s standards. I really do think that she only became a doctor just so she can please her father. She’s a prisoner of her career....yes, she’s a caring doctor, but is that what she really wanted? She’s a prisoner of love because that’s what she longs for.

She’s a stranger, too.

Dr. Moon. Or as Dr. Park Hoon calls him, “master”. He used to be the head of the cardiology department until Jae Joon comes along and proved that he is better than the former. Dr. Moon, despite being a doctor for a long time is a stranger too for his desire to become the head of the department is stronger than fulfilling his duties to his patient. 

Dr. Yang. The most obvious stranger in this series. He’s a doctor yet he does dirty things for the sake of money. And that’s how I know he’s a stranger.

All of them are strangers but as the story progresses, we can see the change in them and how they grow into becoming real doctors. But my favorite and the one I would discuss more is the case of Dr. Park Hoon and Dr. Han Jae Joon.

Fire and Ice. Left and Right. Vertical and Horizontal. A Tale of two great Doctors. A Tale of two Strangers.

Dr. Park Hoon and Dr. Han Jae Joon are both great thoracic surgeons, their medical records are a living proof of that. Both of them are great in their own right. I would’ve love this drama more if the focus is on the story of this two great doctors and how they are able to transform from being strangers to fully embracing their roles as a doctor (because I somehow felt like the romance part is kinda forced in here....no offense).

What made them go side by side is the competition set up by the hospital’s chariman and whoever wins will conduct the surgery of the Prime Minister (which was later found out to be a surgery for the President and the PM was just a cover up)

Let’s put them side by side.

Fire and Ice.

Park Hoon’s cheerful and friendly while Jae Joon’s a bit distant, cold and serious most of the time. The two are really different in their personalities and I guess it’s where they came from that made them that way. Although I really felt like Hoon should also be distant and cold because of the things he went through before: Park Hoon was kidnapped together with his father to another country; he witnessed the love of his life, Jae Hee, being taken by the authorities because of a “crime” related to her father; he witnessed his father dying at the hands of the authorities; he tried saving Jae Hee but he failed; he found himself back in South Korea and ended up close to being broke. Despite all of these, Hoon became a cheerful, friendly, funny and sometimes playful person. While on the other hand, we have Jae Joon who also has a dark past. His father died because of a medical malpractice committed by Myung Woo hospital and since the administration of the hospital lead by Chairman Oh (Soo Hyun’s father) does not want to own up for their mistakes, he vowed revenge on them. He created a plan on how to bring Myung Woo down and it should start with him being a great doctor....being so great that he would end up getting the position of the chairman and from then on he will bring Myung Woo down (referring to the castle he used to ‘play’ with.... one has to enter the castle first and once inside, it will be easier to destroy it). 

Left and Right. 

They have different motivations; Hoon is being motivated to work in order to earn money that he will use to find his great love while Jae Joon is being motivated by his desire to make the people responsible for the death of his parents pay. Those motivations of theirs affected the way they handled their patients — in some cases. 

I guess out of all the patients they’ve handled during their “competition” the most prominent example of how different Hoon and Jae Joon are is with their final round patient. In here, Jae Joon’s patient is a 20 something year old woman while Hoon’s patient is a 40 year old man. Both patients require the same procedure although they somehow differ in their situation; Jae Joon’s patient will get married soon and she plans on having a baby but undergoing a surgery would prevent her from conceiving a child, on the other, hand Hoon’s patient does not have any further issues. Since it’s the final round of the competition, both Doctors are aggressive to win however this round also shows the “real” doctor.....the woman can live without undergoing the procedure (that is at least until she can have her baby? I’m not quite sure in this part though) however if the surgery won’t push through, Jae Joon will lose the competition....so Hoon decided to raise the white flag: at the last minute he exchanged patient with Jae Joon and since the woman is now his patient he decided not to push through with the surgery, thus showing that he truly cares for his patient’s whole well being...even if it means putting himself at risk.

Another example that I would like to use is when Dr. Oh’s mother needed a surgery however it was already obvious that such surgery has a very low percent chance of being successful. Jae Joon who cares more about his “reputation” and “standing” at the hospital declined on doing the surgery while Hoon decided to push through. The patient died during the surgery, but at least Hoon showed that he didn’t give up on his patient, right? There was a committee held in order for Hoon to explain his actions and he answered with  “It’s a doctor’s duty to perform surgery even with one percent chance of success” YASS!! YOU GO THERE BABE! Anyway, he then continue to explain himself by saying: “Is a doctor only supposed to operate on patients with a high rate of success? There are people who want and ask us to save those patients! Is a doctor someone who gives up on surgery and leaves the patient to die?” Do I need to explain this further? 

I think It is already obvious that Hoon despite claiming that money is his motivation, he really truly cares about his patients. Jae Joon on the other hand also cares for his patient (I know deep down that he cares!) but he’s just being blinded by his plan of seeking revenge. However, there is also one instance that the situation reversed, when it was Jae Joon that was more willing to save a patient’s life (even at the expense of his career at Myung Woo) than Hoon.  

All I’ve discussed so far are the “heroic” deeds of Dr. Park Hoon thus putting Dr. Han Jae Joon into the dark side however as just recently mentioned, there is one event that it was Jae Joon who acted as a real doctor than Hoon and it was on their supposed second round patient. That patient’s life was put in danger because of some mistake committed by the surgery team of the internal med department and since Hoon knows how to correct it, he wanted to do the surgery himself. However since the patient’s from a different department they have to get the permission of that department first. Anyway, long story short, Chairman Oh decided that whoever wanted to do the surgery will lose; so if Jae Joon will do it, then it means the competition’s over since he already lose the first round while Hoon on the other hand has the advantage and so he agrees to do the surgery thus making the competition tied. But since this is the drama world the story does not end there. Hoon was threatened that something will happen to his precious Jae Hee (I’m really not a fan of their love story; I prefer Hoon with Soo Hyun #QuackCouple). So in the end, Jae Joon decided to push through with the surgery. This is the time when I said to myself, told ya he’s a caring doctor as well...he’s just being blinded by his revenge plans. I really admire Jae Joon in this scene because it was in his actions that I saw that after all, he himself knows that above anything else, he’s a doctor first and he shall do his duty. Chairman Oh was furious at him for doing this (since it was obvious from the start that he wanted Jae Joon to win the competition) for if the surgery goes wrong then there’s more reason for the patient’s family to file a lawsuit against the hospital. Chairman Oh even threatens the entire surgery team that they will lose their jobs if they continue with the operation. Jae Joon yells back with “What are you so afraid of?!” then explained that if they will just admit their mistakes and apologize sincerely then they can prevent a lawsuit but Chairman Oh insisted that it’s impossible in which Jae Joon replied with “That’s because we’ve never apologized sincerely! We’ve ignored the people who lost their parents and their children because we didn’t want to lose our money and positions. I’ll show you that you are wrong.”   And at that moment I felt like Jae Joon also deserves to be a lead character like Hoon. But wait, there’s more! A chaos came inside the operating room as one of Jae Joon’s assistant became nervous that resulted to the bleeding of the patient’s heart...at that moment, Hoon seems to be reminded of his father’s words: “...don’t ever forget the fact that you are a doctor” and he decided to join Jae Joon’s team. He also reminded the other doctors that they should not be ashamed for choosing to continue with the surgery despite the risks for that’s what doctors should do. Hoon said, “The people up there should be ashamed. Look.” (referring to Chairman Oh and the other doctors who are just watching the surgery) “You should be proud. You’re the only real doctors in this hospital.” And then he saves the day! Gosh, this is my favorite part of the drama!

Vertical and Horizontal.

Both doctors have their fair amount of successes and failures during their stay at Myung Woo and in the end I love how they were able to move past being a “Doctor Stranger” to being real doctors. What I would like to say in this final paragraph is that Jae Joon and Hoon are really different and yet the same. 

They may have their own reasons for the actions done but in the end I’m happy that they were able to understand what being a doctor should really be. 

In the end, despite the prime minister being the reason for all of his suffering, Hoon still decided to do whatever it takes to save his life. He realized that as a doctor, he should fulfill his duty of saving lives, even if the patient is an evil personified like the prime minister. For him, any person who lays down on his operating table is just another patient, nothing more nothing less so as a doctor he must do his best in saving that patient’s life. He was once a stranger but now he really did become a real doctor.

As for Jae Joon, I also love the “closure” for his character. He became a doctor because of his plan of bringing Myung Woo down as a revenge for what they did for his father but in the end, he realizes that such plan is absurd and not worth it because if he will pursue it then he just became like the people he hates, the people responsible for his father’s death. He realizes that he became a stranger because he lost in touch with his real purpose as a doctor. Before he left the hospital, he told this to Hoon (and it’s one of my favorite lines from the show) :  “You taught me a valuable lesson. Any doctor who doesn’t truly respect the lives of patients is a stranger.”

Doctor Stranger, despite its flaws, was a great drama and I didn’t regret that I chose this as the first KDrama to watch after years of not watching KDramas; it was a great re-introduction. I’ve learned a lot from this and someday I would definitely rewatch it. 

Doctor Stranger tells us the story of Park Hoon and Jae Joon, who are fire and ice, left and right, horizontal and vertical. Both are thoracic surgeons. Both are great. Yet, they are different. Doctor Stranger tells us the story of two strangers who later become real doctors themselves.