Getting inside the real ER with ABC’s ‘Boston Med’

Scenes of fear, pain, and trust between doctors and patients give viewers an intimate look at what happens at the hospital in “Boston Med,” a new documentary series on ABC. The show is neither “reality TV” nor the fictionalized medical fantasy land that we see on “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House.” In fact, it’s a very real documentary that provides an unflinching look at the relationships between doctors and patients. We talk to the show’s executive producer and one of the featured doctors about gaining access and building trust, and why they made this documentary.

Executive Producer Terry Wrong says he set out to make people understand that their expectations of the American health system have been shaped by lots and lots of fictional shows. So he taped doctors and patients interacting together, sometimes with untidy results, inside the E.R. and O.R. Dr. William Curry says he was surprised that Massachusetts General’s administration okayed the project but jumped at the chance to show people what he and other surgeons do at the hospital.