Complexities of care: how ‘The Pitt’ illustrates the philosophical tensions embedded in our medical systems

There are many complexities that exist in the current North American medical system for physicians to provide high-quality healthcare to patients. The television show The Pitt can be studied as a source that highlights some of these complexities, one of which is the difficulty for physicians in caring for themselves as well as for their patients. By examining the portrayal of the medical profession on the television show, we can examine the broader philosophical systems and ideas that underlie daily medical practice. This article explores how a plotline on The Pitt , in which a physician is unable for several hours to go to the washroom because of his demanding work, depicts the philosophical underpinnings of Descartes’ theory of the mind/body duality, the conflation of self-care with selfishness, which can be traced to the time of Socrates, and Foucault’s idea of professional identity being formed from a strict discipline. Using this plot line as an example that illustrates these philosophical ideas can help physicians understand their daily realities and how the current complexities and competing demands they face in caring for patients came to be. The article then explores the philosophical field of phenomenology as a way to recentre the importance of the experience of the physician in their day-to-day practice. Understanding the philosophical systems that our medical systems are built on can help physicians to situate their modern practice in a broader history and provide a system of thought to make sense of their work and experiences.