There has been a lot of stir in the medicine world about Bravo's new show "Married to Medicine" and we knew we just had to put our two cents in. The official website describes the show as a look into "the fast-paced and drama-filled social scene of Atlanta's exclusive medical inner circle". It follows 6 Atlanta based women; only 2 of whom are actual physicians (Dr. Simone Whitmore and Dr. Jacqueline Walters), the rest being MD wives.
There are already online petitions to end the show, one run by current black medical students. The reason for the petition as one student describes is "the show will leave the stain of unprofessionalism and cattiness on the image of Black female doctors for years to come." Now I for one love to indulge in reality tv once in a while, but this one really hits close to home. The American (and world wide) television audience already has a poor perception of black women due to ever popular reality shows like Real Housewives of Atlanta and Love & Hip Hop. And the days of sitcoms showing images of positive black families like Moesha and Family Matter are behind us. Gone are the days of Claire Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) holding down the workplace and home in a graceful manner as an MD wife.
As previously said on Ohemaa's MD, African American women make up only 1.9 percent of physicians in the United States. You would think that if anything, our 15 minutes of fame will be used to display the social, financial, and intellectual perks of being a physician. It should be an avenue of encouragement to young viewers to pursue a career in the sciences. Specifically, it should focus on what's most important- the patients. But that wouldn't bring ratings, now would it.
I am interested to see if Married to Medicine will also show the hardships of living a life in medicine. Will it show the doctor's being woken up at 2 am due to a crisis in the hospital, or the physicians working longer than anticipated because a patient has an emotional breakdown in the office? Will it portray the sacrifices to your own family in order to help others? Or will it be just full of the cattiness, fights, and Versace sunglasses we know reality divas love? I don't want to jump to conclusions; maybe it will actually cause tons of women to desire a career, or marriage *insert sarcasm* in medicine. All publicity is good publicity, no?
The show premieres March 24th at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo and we will def be tuning in (if we're not working of course).
See the trailer below.
You can view the petition here:
Remove Married to Medicine
Will you be watching?
I have seen the previews on Bravo and I have read the medical student's petition and you know what...I think she has a point. People already have a a skewed perception of black women due to the media. Bravo, although very entertaining, is really not helping.
ReplyDeleteAs an OheneMD to be (MSIV), I am disappointed. It makes me wonder where the two physicians trained, and who served as their mentors. Of course one shouldn't cast aspersions without knowing them as physicians and individuals, but I can't imagine what would drive an African-American female physician to participate in this nonsense. Did they not suffer enough in medical school ? Are they hard up for cash ? Perhaps what is even more telling, is that of course as their publicity/notoriety increases, so will the demand for their services. Their clinics will prosper, but at what cost... I know I couldn't do it. I also know I won't be watching. I signed the petition, but it has a meagre 2,000 signatures. Not enough to do any damage.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. I couldn't do it either.
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