Pinoy Nurses Finally Take Center Stage in US Medical Dramas

Wow! Many have wondered in the past why in medical dramas shown in the US, Filipino nurses were not given prominent roles—despite the fact that they are lynchpins of medical care in real life in the US.

- JOANNE RAE M. RAMIREZ

I don't recall if there were any Filipino nurses or doctors with noticeable speaking parts in either ER or Grey's Anatomy, for instance. I always used to wonder—what if Pia Wurtzbach landed a role as a top medical practitioner in a California hospital? That would put Filipino actors on the Hollywood map for a role Filipinos actually play in real life.

A 2021 study revealed that registered nurses (RNs) trained in the Philippines constitute one out of 20 RNs in the United States, maintaining their status as the largest group of foreign-trained nurses to date, according to Harvard online sources. When I asked Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez if Filipino nurses were highly regarded in the US, he replied in a heartbeat: "Absolutely."

In fact, the envoy shared that former President George Bush Sr. was cared for by a Filipino nurse until he passed away.

So it was a pleasant surprise to see at least two Filipino nurses with major supporting roles in the medical drama series The Pitt, now streaming on MAX. It stars Noah Wyle, "Dr. Carter" of ER fame, portraying Dr. Michael "Robby" Robinavitch, the head doctor of the fictional Pittsburgh-based emergency room in Pittsburgh Trauma Hospital.

My nephew Dr. Marko Parungo said that of all the medical drama series he has watched so far, The Pitt is the closest to emergency-room reality. As reviews have pointed out,