Search - Medic V. 2 on DVD

A look at medicine 1/2 decade ago!

Arthur K. Yellin | Olney, MD United States | 10/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Medic" was aired around 1954-1955. I was 7-8 years old and was not allowed to watch it because I was, indeed, "too young" to understand. The show is not gory. However, the show was produced with awesome realism; I believe it was filmed in actual hospital settings and not an elaborate stage such as today's "House." The acting was typical for its time. Today, some of the scenes move very slowly. You will recognize the names, if not their then very young faces, of some very well known actors and actresses such as Charles Bronson and Dennis Hopper. The "star" of the show, Richard Boone, also starred in the hugely popular western, "Paladin." But Boone's role in "Medic" is fairly minimal. Much of each segment features real doctors and nurses.

If you are a member of the "health care team," this show is instructive in the historical sense. "Medic" shows the state of medicine 55 years ago. Familiarity with modern medicine reveals the explosion of medical knowledge and the extent of discovery, invention and innovation that has occurred in the half century since 1955.

This DVD offers four episodes of "Medic," each concerning a specific medical condition. At the outset of each episode, Boone, as Dr. Styner, provides a teaser about the subject of the show. Each episode progresses to explain the patient's history, current condition and treatment options available at the time. There are also explanations of then current research. Today, in 2009, we are well aware of the results of much of this research.

The show also sensitively discusses social aspects of diseases and the stigma that was attached to them a half century ago. For example, epilepsy was considered a form of insanity, mastectomy for breast cancer meant a woman was no longer a woman, genetic transmission of diseases was a known but then unquantifiable frightening possibility with no means of prediction.

Certainly, modern medical research is fueled and often directed by profits. However, as exemplified through the changes evident since Medic was written and filmed, medicine has wrought miracles for humanity.

I strongly recommend this DVD, especially if you are a member of the "health care team.""

A Good Collection

Jerry Warriner | United States | 06/11/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The disc contains a generous helping of eight episodes. The picture and sound quality are fine (although the film of Richard Boone's introduction looks like it was danced on by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire).

If you own Volumes Two and Three of the set from Critics Choice, you'll find that four of the episodes are duplicated on this disc."