16 Best Medical TV Series in History, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes
If you thought the most intense drama in a hospital was in the ER, think again, because we're slicing into the 16 best medical TV series ever, as ranked by the critics' scalpel over at Rotten Tomatoes.
From the high-stakes surgeries that keep you on the edge of your seat to the heart-pumping, sometimes heart-breaking personal lives of doctors and nurses, these series have been prescribed by critics as the best dose of medical drama television has to offer.
16. Private Practice
Seasons: 6 (2007 – 2013)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 24%
A spin-off of Grey's Anatomy, this series follows Dr. Addison Montgomery as she leaves Seattle Grace Hospital to join a private practice in Los Angeles, exploring the complex personal and professional lives of her and her colleagues.
15. New Amsterdam
Seasons: 5 (2018 – 2023)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 34%
Dr. Max Goodwin becomes the medical director of America's oldest public hospital, New Amsterdam, and strives to reform the neglected facility by tearing up its bureaucracy to provide exceptional care to patients.
14. Saving Hope
Seasons: 7 (2012 – 2019)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 43%
At Toronto's Hope-Zion Hospital, Chief of Surgery Charlie Harris falls into a coma, leaving the hospital in chaos and his fiancée and fellow surgeon, Alex Reid, navigating her own emotional turmoil while dealing with complex medical cases.
13. The Resident
Seasons: 6 (2018 – 2023)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 59%
This series focuses on the lives and duties of staff members at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital, highlighting the bureaucratic practices of the hospital industry while showcasing the dedication and challenges of the doctors and nurses.
12. Doogie Howser, M.D.
Seasons: 4 (1989-1993)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 60%
A prodigious teenager, Douglas "Doogie" Howser, balances the challenges of practicing medicine as a young doctor with the everyday trials of teenage life, exploring themes of precocity, responsibility, and the journey towards adulthood.
11. Good Sam
Seasons: 1 (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 63%
Talented heart surgeon Dr. Samantha Griffith steps up as chief surgeon after her boss and father falls into a coma, and must navigate the challenges of her new role while dealing with the return of her father, who wants to resume surgery.
10. The Good Doctor
Seasons: 3 (2017 – )
Rotten Tomatoes score: 63%
Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join the surgical unit at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital, facing skepticism from colleagues while demonstrating extraordinary medical insights and instincts.
9. Grey's Anatomy
Seasons: 20 (2005 – )
Rotten Tomatoes score: 71%
Focusing on the surgical interns, residents, and attendings at Seattle Grace Hospital (later Grey Sloan Memorial), this series, led by Meredith Grey, intertwines complex medical cases with intricate personal relationships and emotional journeys.
8. Transplant
Seasons: 4 (2020 – )
Rotten Tomatoes score: 78%
A skilled Syrian doctor, Bashir "Bash" Hamed, flees his war-torn country to build a new life in Canada, where he struggles to overcome numerous obstacles to resume his career in emergency medicine.
7. ER
Seasons: 15 (1994 – 2009)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 83%
This medical drama set in the emergency room of County General Hospital in Chicago delves deeply into the chaotic daily life of the ER staff, including Dr. Mark Greene, Nurse Carol Hathaway, and Dr. Doug Ross. The series is known for its intense and realistic depiction of medical procedures and personal dramas.
6. MAS*H
Seasons: 11 (1972 – 1983)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%
Set in the Korean War, this series focuses on the staff of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, where surgeons Hawkeye Pierce and BJ Hunnicutt, along with their colleagues, use humor and camaraderie to cope with the horrors of war.
5. House
Seasons: 8 (2004 – 2012)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%
Dr. Gregory House, a brilliant but misanthropic and painkiller-dependent diagnostician, leads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey, solving complex and unusual medical cases often through unconventional methods.
4. St. Elsewhere
Seasons: 6 (1982-1988)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%
Set in the fictional St. Eligius Hospital in Boston, this series focuses on the personal and professional lives of the hospital's staff, portraying the complexities of the medical profession alongside the human drama of patients, doctors, and administrators, known for its gritty realism and interwoven storylines.
3. Chicago Hope
Seasons: 6 (1994 – 2000)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 85%
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This series centers on the doctors and staff at the fictional Chicago Hope Hospital, delving into the cutting-edge and ethical dilemmas of modern medicine, with a focus on the intense personal and professional dynamics among the surgeons and staff.
2. Nurse Jackie
Seasons: 7 (2009 – 2015)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 89%
Jackie Peyton, a nurse at All Saints' Hospital in New York City, is a competent and deeply compassionate health care professional but struggles with personal demons including prescription drug addiction, leading to complex ethical dilemmas and personal crises.
1. Scrubs
Seasons: 9 (2001 – 2010)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%
This comedic series is centered around the lives of several employees working at Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital, focusing on the perspective of Dr. John "J.D." Dorian as he evolves from an intern to a full-fledged doctor while experiencing the realities of life and medicine.