The 15 Best Medical Shows to Watch Right Now
When you need to unwind and know all the steps to intubate.
2025 is the year that medical shows flew to the top of every TV fanatic's watchlist. The medical drama has been a staple genre since the early days, with legendary classic TV shows bringing in hundreds of millions of viewers with their well-worn yet effective tropes. In recent years, several new series have revived the genre as a pop culture phenomenon with their refreshing takes on the everyday highs and lows (including global staffing and funding issues) that health care workers live through today.
Whether you're a longtime fan looking for your next re-watch or a Pitt-pilled newbie to the genre, we've compiled the best medical dramas, comedies, and miniseries, from the feel-good comfort watches to the emotional rollercoasters. Below, read on for our curated list of the best medical shows ever.
'Berlin ER' (2025– )
International TV offers a wealth of shows for viewers willing to overcome the one-inch barrier of subtitles, and the U.S. isn't the only country making great medical shows. Premiered during the medical-drama boom of early 2025, this German-language series has been likened to The Pitt for its no-holds-barred look at the pressures facing an under-resourced staff in an overcrowded hospital. (It may even be more anxiety-inducing than its peer, so fair warning.) When Dr. Suzanna Parker (Dear Child's Haley Louise Jones) is hired as the head of emergency medicine at KRANK, the "worst hospital in Berlin," she quickly learns just how massive a challenge she's facing.
'Call the Midwife' (2012– )
This long-running British period drama follows the women of Nonnatus House, a convent in a poor East London neighborhood where nurse midwives provide health care to the community. Starting in 1957, each season features diseases and issues ranging from tuberculosis, polio, and typhoid, to abortion, interracial marriage, and the invention of the contraceptive pill. While it doesn't shy away from the heavy realities of childbirth, the young midwives's friendships and love lives help Call the Midwife retain a comfort-show feel.
'ER' (1994–2009)
Of the early shows that led to the medical drama becoming a TV staple—from City Hospital to M*A*S*H to St. Elsewhere—ER stands apart. In addition to launching the careers of stars like George Clooney and Noah Wyle, ER raised the bar for dramatic storytelling and pacing, blowing the minds of the 1994 TV audience when they were introduced to the emergency room doctors at Chicago’s County General. Sure, the social issues they faced are now a bit dated, but if you're a medical-show fan who hasn't watched, the 300+ episodes will likely still blow you away.
'Grey's Anatomy' (2005– )
Oh, where would TV be without Grey's? For 20 years, Shonda Rhimes's landmark series set at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital has become a Thursday night staple, dominated "best TV couples" rankings, and inspired a generation of fans to enter the medical profession themselves. From the original cohort with Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina (Sandra Oh), and McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey), to recent favorites like Carina (Stefania Spampinato) and Taryn (Jaicy Elliot), there's a new favorite TV doctor for everyone among the show's 21 (and counting) seasons.
'Hart of Dixie' (2011–2015)
Hear us out: It wouldn't be right not to include the city-doctor-moves-to-small-town subgenre on this list, and Hart of Dixie is the type of soapy-yet-lighthearted comfort show that deserves a slot. (It narrowly edged out Virgin River.) N.Y.C. doctor Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) learns that her late biological father was a general practitioner in the rural town of Bluebell, Alabama. When she moves there to take over the practice, she must adjust to both her new home and her dad's former business partner, Brick Breeland (Tim Matheson). Of course, there's also a dash of rom-com in the love triangle between Zoe and locals Wade (Wilson Bethel) and George (Scott Porter).
'Hospital Playlist' (2020–2021)
One of the most beloved K-dramas of the past five years, this series centers on the doctors, patients, and staff at the fictional Yulje Medical Center, a Seoul university hospital. Five doctors who met during medical school are now best friends working across different departments, and come together at night to rehearse for their band. If you fall in love with the charming cast, don't worry—the spinoff Resident Playbook is full of cameos, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that a Hospital Playlist season 3 is on the horizon.
'House' (2004–2012)
Most of the shows mentioned so far in this list have been heartwarming at their core; Dr. Gregory House would probably hate them. This is a pure procedural, with the titular doctor (played by Hugh Laurie) and his colleague James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) spending each episode diagnosing mind-bending afflictions (which are never lupus). The antisocial curmudgeon Dr. House is a legendary TV character, and watching the show get to the truth of him throughout the show's early seasons is a fascinating watch.
'Lenox Hill' (2020)
While scripted medical shows are filled with fictional versions of the everyday heroes in the healthcare industry, this Netflix docuseries spotlights four real-life doctors. Filmed in the titular N.Y.C. hospital over several months, the series was lauded for covering a wide scope of personal issues affecting medical professionals, from the immense emotional toll and stakes of their work, to the dearth of physicians of color, to the experience of delivering babies while carrying their own. Lenox Hill even ends with a special episode covering the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
'M*A*S*H' (1972–1983)
M*A*S*H is one of the most well-known classic TV shows; 105.97 million people watched the series finale, which is the most-watched scripted TV episode in history. Based on the 1970 film of the same name, the Korean War dramedy centers on the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital staff, as they treat their fellow soldiers and struggle against the strict military bureaucracy. Though it shows its age at times, M*A*S*H is an essential watch for TV historians.
'New Amsterdam' (2018–2023)
If you didn't catch New Amsterdam during its Netflix boost in 2023, it's never too late to watch one of the most popular medical shows in recent years. Set at the New Amsterdam Medical Center and based on N.Y.C.'s oldest hospital, Bellevue, the warm-hearted series follows idealistic medical director Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold) as he sets out to transform the hospital into one that puts patients before bureaucracy. (A common theme, if you haven't noticed, but Eggold sells it particularly well.)
'Nurse Jackie' (2009–2015)
Several medical dramas have depicted health providers struggling with addiction, but these tend to be supporting characters. On this Showtime hit, Edie Falco plays Jackie Peyton, who does excellent work in an N.Y.C. emergency department, while also going in and out of rehab for her pill addiction. Falco and Merritt Wever both won Emmys for their performances as mentor Jackie and mentee Zoey, whose complicated relationship was a highlight of the series.
'The Pitt'
If you've made it to May 2025 without watching The Pitt, you're doing yourself a disservice. The series from star, writer, and executive producer Noah Wyle is another fast-paced series set in a beleaguered emergency department, but it grabs your attention by skewing away from all the well-worn tropes of contemporary medical dramas (much like another series did in its heyday). The illnesses, injuries, and treatments are mundane and hyper-realistic; the social issues the staff addresses are nationwide concerns; and every character is fleshed out and feels like a real person from the moment they step into the room (shoutout to the night staff). There's a reason every TV fanatic you know literally cannot wait for The Pitt season 2.
'Scrubs' (2001–2010)
This medical comedy from Shrinking creator Bill Lawrence is one of the most beloved comedies in TV history; think Grey's Anatomy, but tone down the soapy drama and turn up the goofball humor. (Fans miss it so much that a reboot is on the horizon.) Set at Sacred Heart Hospital, the workplace sitcom is powered by its charming ensemble, from medical intern J.D. (Zach Braff) and surgeon Turk's (Donald Faison) iconic friendship to chief resident Cox (John C. McGinley) and nurse Carla (Judy Reyes).
'St. Denis Medical' (2024– )
Fans of mockumentary comedies like The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Abbott Elementary have a new series to add to their watchlists. This feel-good series follows the eclectic staff of an underfunded Oregon emergency department as they try to stay sane while doing their jobs. This show handles the woes of the healthcare system with a good mix of absurd, silly, and downright dark humor, featuring great characters, from clear-headed head nurse Alex (Allison Tolman) to know-it-all Dr. Ron (David Alan Grier) to ambitious administrator Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey).
'This Is Going to Hurt' (2022)
This underrated gem gives an up-close look at the provider side of the U.K.'s National Health Service, based on creator Adam Kay's searing memoir about his time as a junior doctor. The seven-episode miniseries is set in an understaffed and underfunded OB-GYN unit in London, where the fictional doctor Adam Kay (Ben Whishaw) trains new hire Shruti (One Day's Ambika Mod) through exhausting shifts. The BAFTA-winning series doesn't pull any punches in showing how the strenuous work affects both Adam's mental health and his relationships outside of the hospital; by the end, viewers are left reckoning with a vocation that helps so many yet demands so much.
'The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call' (2025– )
If you've ever wanted your medical show to have the same feel as an action movie, watch this K-drama. The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call centers on Baek Kang-hyuk (Ju Ji-hoon), a genius surgeon and former combat medic hired to revamp a Seoul hospital's trauma center. When he's not jumping out of a helicopter or saving a patient's life, he's butting heads with hospital administration and mentoring his new fellow Yang Jae-won (Choo Young-woo) through a trial by fire. Like many genre-bending K-dramas, Trauma Code skillfully balances thrilling scenes, laugh-out-loud comedy, and doses of emotional drama; fingers crossed it gets a second season.
