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How St. Denis Medical Makes Sure the Medicine Discussed & Practiced is Accurate
St. Denis Medical's Allison Tolman and Josh Lawson praise the real heroes behind their performances.
For anyone who watches a medical show like St. Denis Medical and wonders how accurate the scenarios are, know that the actors are often right there with you as they read the scene.
NBC's upcoming "mockumentary" sitcom is a fictional look at an understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity. Viewers might already assume that just the comedy is the priority on St. Denis Medical, so why look for authenticity? However, that's not the case. The series is trying to capture the accurate flavor of what it looks like for hospital staff to shift from life or death situations to the mundanity of the average work day.
RELATED: Everything to Know About St. Denis Medical on NBC
To get these details right, the show has a secret weapon. NBC Insider did a set visit on the Universal Studios backlot in California where we sat down with actors Allison Tolman, who plays Nurse Alex, and Josh Lawson, who plays Bruce, a surgeon, to find out the real MVPs who help them learn the skills to look like hospital professionals in every scene.
Do medical professionals consult on St. Denis Medical?
In short, yes. There's a technical team on the St. Denis Medical set whose job it is to make sure all the medical jargon and details are accurate.
For audiences to believe that the many medical professionals walking the halls of St. Denis Medical know what they're doing, they have to look like they do it every day. Considering it takes at least eight years to study to become a doctor, what's an actor to do when it comes to playing one credibly?
For actors Tolman and Lawson, they looked to actual medical technicians Jamie Watkins and Rachel Daigh who are trained professionals hired by the production to consult on the St. Denis Medical scripts and help out every actor who needs it on the set.
"I asked when I took the job, 'Are we going to have nurses on set?'" Tolman remembered of when she was first cast as Nurse Alex. "Because I've done shows where you're like, 'What's the police protocol for this?' And they're trying to Google it. We need someone who tells us how you do this so it doesn't look fake."
Tolman said St. Denis Medical showrunners Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin promised them medical professionals, and they were part of their team every day of the production of Season 1.
"They're here every day if we ask, 'Would I be wearing gloves? Would I do this? What could I be doing over here?' And they, know," Tolman explained.
"These two great med techs also write all of our medical jargon too," Tolman added. "So, the script might just say, 'and then they...[medical].' Then Jamie and Rachel come in and are like, 'This is what they're doing. Here's what she says. Here's what he says.' We would be lost without them."
Lawson agree and said he actually gets excited speaking with the tech getting to learn about someone else's job.
"I'm on the set, in real time, going, 'Tell me what can I do? What would normally happen here? How would I hold that?' If I'm doing something in the background and they need me to riff or vamp for a while, I'll want to know details. I enjoy that part of it."
To study the work of all of the St. Denis Medical cast, watch the premiere on NBC on November 12. Or, watch episodes next-day on Peacock.
