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From KQED.

Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. Have you heard of or watched the HBO drama The Pit about an emergency room staff at a fictional trauma center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania?

The second season of the show is now a few episodes in, and its first season was a hit, averaging 10 million

viewers and leading providers to note it was having an impact on health care, or what some

call the pit effect. Researchers at USC Annenberg have documented that effect in the form

of greater interest in organ donation and end-of-life care from patients, and a sense of validation

from doctors and nurses. With all those viewers, we wondered if the pit effect was showing up in

California. And joining me now are three ER doctors from across California, Dr. Sarah Madero's

clinical emergency physician at UC Davis VA Hospital and professor of emergency

medicine at UC Davis and host of the EM Pulse podcast. Dr. Madero, so glad to have you with us.

Thanks for having me. Also with us is Dr. Christopher Caldwell, a vice chair and chief of emergency medicine

at Zuckerberg, San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Caldwell, glad to have you on as well.

And glad to be here. Thank you for having me. Dr. Patil Armenian is professor of

clinical emergency medicine and medical toxicology at UCSF Fresno. So glad to have you as well,

Dr. Armenian. Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

And I'd love to start with you, actually, because what made you watch the pit?

...