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This is Science Friday. I'm Ira Plato.

Today on the podcast, the new medical drama The Pit gives an unflinching look at what it's actually like to work in an ER,

and health care workers can't praise it enough.

I think the overarching goal was to create the most accurate and realistic medical drama series in history,

which they accomplished.

I have been watching and enjoying The PIP.

This is that new medical drama on Max from the creators of ER.

And starring one of that old show's young key actors all grown up, Noah Wiley.

The season takes place over a single shift, and each episode in the show is one hour of that shift in real time.

Medical professionals are praising the show for its accuracy, and I think the issues are so contemporary and the character so defined that I describe it as the West Wing meets ER. But just how true is the show to what it's

actually like to work in an emergency room, with the overcrowded waiting rooms, the lack of

hospital beds, constantly presented with life and death health conditions and trying to

maintain your sanity at the same time.

Here's what listener Lena in New Jersey had to say.

As a new EMT who is prepping for nursing school, I absolutely love the pit.

It's one of the rare shows that is more medical than drama, unlike so many soaps with

scalpel out there.

Medical jargon, nuances of patient care, depiction of PTSD.

It's all impressive stuff.

The pit season finale is now streaming on Max.

And joining me now to talk about the medical accuracy of the show

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