GRAY'S ANATOMY

Thursday is generally a free night for me at home. I am free to do whatever I like. The reason? It's an important TV night for my wife. She watches several shows faithfully (sometimes even in reruns). One of the biggies is Gray's Anatomy. It's a hospital show. Like House they pratice some pretty outrageous medicine. Unlike House the show is primarily about the lives of the cast rather than medical problems to solve.

I confess that I am not a fan of Gray's Anatomy. Occasionally the human interest dilemma of the patients in the background appeals to the pastoral counselor within me. But the doctors and nurses of Gray's Anatomy are some of the most dysfunctional humans I have ever seen. How they practice medicine in spite of their constant emotional traumas is a mystery, except to the screen writers who make all this stuff up. I would never admit my loved one's to the care of Seattle Grace Hospital.

Unless they were the patient of Dr. Bailey. Dr. Bailey is an African-American resident now deciding between surgery and pediatrics as her specialty. For a number of years she was the doctor supervising those awkward and hormoned up interns. Dr. Bailey is happily married, loves medicine, genuinely cares for her patients, is self-disciplined and centered. In short, Dr. Bailey has a powerful moral compass.

Hers is a life and values worth imitating. She has her own emotional struggles and personal issues, but they grow from being a sensitive human practicing medicine in an imperfect world. Dr. Bailey is a representative of all the fine teaching physicians across America who continue to make this the premier medical system in the world.