The Most Intense Medical Shows Ever

These days, we all just want to come home at the end of the day, sit back on our comfy couch, and unwind by watching the most stressful medical drama show we can find. The good news is there are tons of them, each more high-octane than the last, curing any delusions we might have had that we would be able to hold it together while staffing an emergency room full of screaming patients.

Maybe it’s the thrill of the claustrophobic yet exciting environment, maybe it’s the schadenfreude of “well at least that’s not happening to me,” but doctor shows are far and away one of the most popular television genres of all time. The best ones have an even split between can’t-look-away medical cases and compelling interpersonal complexities between their main characters, hooking their audience with human drama and terrifying physical ailments, and promising, most of the time, that everyone is going to be okay.

If you’re a fan of medical dramas and in need of a new one, or you’re interested in them but don’t know where to start, or you just want to find the most nerve-wracking way to spend your off hours, boy, do we have the perfect list for you. Out of all the doctor shows out there, from the most beloved to the more obscure, we’ve gathered together the ten most stressful, most fraught television shows ever made, each of which tests the boundaries of medical science and how many cameras you can fit inside one hospital set. Envy the brilliance of these star doctors while safe in the knowledge that at least your day wasn’t as bad as theirs is about to be.