Abstract

Most of the protagonists in modern medical TV series are played by attractive actors or those portraying a special type of physician. Our pilot study attempted to scrutinize whether or not current German viewers are influenced by US medical series when choosing their physicians. For this, we determined four stereotypic characters exemplified in contemporary TV series, as follows: type 1, young, idealistic assistant physician ; type 2, experienced, cynical senior physician ; type 3: good-looking, omniscient specialist ; and type 4, calm, authentic mentor. We then assessed two groups of people. The first group consisted of young. The majority of the second group made their decision based on a more realistic representation of an average, more familiar appearance.