Summary

Medical dramas like House provide engaging human-interest stories with realistic medical accuracy.
House’s collaborative approach to medicine showcased various specialties, allowing each character to shine.
The specificity of medical specialties on TV matters, with characters like House and his team reflecting real-life medical practices.

Audiences crave medical dramas, and for good reason. They’re fast-paced, human-interest pieces, with a smidge of realism and a concrete life-or-death ending by the end of the hour. Beyond the sticky medical situations and steam-filled interoffice romance, audiences, particularly modern ones, have come to crave a bit more with their medicine — accuracy. Attention to detail has become more of a trend as of late, but it is far from an old one. One show in particular did this well. That show is House (also known as House, M.D.).

Beyond the shenanigans of the ill-mannered titular character, one key aspect of House that stands out is its highly collaborative approach to medicine. Doctors from all levels and specialties took part in the process of diagnosing the seemingly un-diagnosable. While this might not be nearly as prevalent in real life, it gave each character a chance to shine in their given specialties. How did this make a difference for the patients in their care? Let’s take a look at the different specialties represented and how they came to play a vital part of this engaging series.

What Is a Medical Specialty, and Why Does it Matter?
House Release Date November 16, 2004 Seasons 8

So, what is a specialty? In the most basic terms, a specialty is a specific branch of medical practice, one that is defined by the part of the body, the patients, diseases, skills, and even the philosophy of the practice itself. There are over 100 specialties and subspecialties to choose from, ranging from Anesthesiology to Psychiatry. Specialties fall between different ranges of practice, from the level of invasiveness (internist vs. surgeon), patient age (geriatrics vs. pediatrics), organ or treatment technique involved (cardiologist vs. plastic surgeon), and the physician’s stage in the medical process (treatment vs. diagnostics).

What comes next is the part most TV shows that center around a teaching hospital, from Grey’s Anatomy to House, focus on. Technically, once a student graduates from Medical School, they are considered a doctor; however, in order to practice independently, they still need to complete the aforementioned medical residency. It is during this residency that they will spend the next few years learning their specialties. It’s also their first official paid position as a doctor.

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An Overview Of House and His Team’s Medical Specialties

This is all to say that the specificity of a position or specialty as seen on TV matters. So, how do the characters of Housestand up to medical scrutiny? It’s important to note here that it’s near impossible to get everything diagnostically correct in less than an hour. The Diagnostics Department featured in this show is one in a million, literally. Such a department in real life is somewhere between rare and non-existent. The same cannot be said, however, of the doctors who worked in and around the unit as most featured real-life specialties, albeit in an exaggerated context. Here is an overview of the specialties and positions of the doctors in the Diagnostics Department at the Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.

Gregory House
Fox

Dr. House is the central component of the series, he’s the head of the diagnostics department with a specialty in nephrology and infectious diseases. House is a rare dual specialty. Nephrology refers to kidney conditions and infectious diseases speaks for itself. He would describe himself on the show as a board-certified diagnostician with a double specialty in infectious disease and nephrology.

James Wilson
Universal Television

Dr. Wilson, House’s best (and maybe only) friend, is the hospital’s head of oncology. Unsurprisingly, this means his specialty is in oncology. An Oncologist or Cancer Specialist treats issues related to cancer. While not an official part of the team, Dr. Wilson serves as a rock to ground Dr. House’s eccentricities.

Lisa Cuddy
Universal Television

Dr. Cuddy is House’s boss — the chief hospital administrator and the dean of medicine. Outside of her administrative responsibilities, Cuddy’s specialty is in endocrinology. An Endocrinologist specializes in diagnosing and treating conditions related to the body’s hormones, hormonal glands, and related processes. Cuddy also just so happens to be the head of the educational program.

Eric Foreman
Universal Television

As a part of House’s team, Dr. Foreman is a fellow of diagnostic medicine. Later, he also works as the dean of medicine. His specialty is in neurology, meaning he specializes in diseases of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. Like many throughout the course of this series, Dr. Foreman’s job description changed from season to season. Starting out as a Fellow, he eventually split from the Department of Diagnostics, only to come back in later seasons.

Robert Chase
Universal Television

Another member of House’s team, Dr. Chase begins as a fellow of diagnostic medicine. At other points in the series, he becomes the department head of surgery and head of diagnostic medicine. His specialty lies in both cardiology and intensive care. As an Intensivist or Intensive Care Specialist, Dr. Chase is a bit of a jack of all trades. Primarily dealing with the critically ill of all ages, a prospective doctor completes a residency and board certification in a specialty plus an additional two to three-year fellowship in critical care. In his case, Chase is also trained in Cardiology. He’s also considered the team’s surgeon-at-large. To add to the confusion, Dr. Chase also did a residency in neurosurgery.

Allison Cameron
Universal Television

Like most of the House crew, Dr. Cameron starts her time on the show as a fellow of diagnostic medicine. Other positions she holds throughout the series include senior emergency room attending physician, head of department in the emergency room, temporary dean of medicine, and head of emergency medicine. Despite all of this variety, her specialty is immunology. As an Immunologist, Dr. Cameron works with immune system conditions, from diagnosis to symptom management. This serves her well both as a Diagnostic Fellow and in her future career in Emergency Medicine.

Lawrence Kutner
Universal Television

Another fellow of diagnostic medicine, Dr. Kutner stands out among the rest of the crew due to his specialty in sports medicine and rehab. Dr. Kutner’s stint on House was cut short by his untimely demise just a year and a half in. However, his specialty of choice did come in handy on occasion. He was also sanctioned as House’s “professional defibrillist” after multiple successful, highly unsafe attempts at defibrillation of patients.

Chris Taub
Universal Television

Dr. Taub is both a fellow of diagnostic medicine and a plastic surgeon. Therefore, it’s not too surprising that his specialty is plastic surgery. Dr. Taub was a renowned plastic surgeon long before his tenure as a fellow. Plastic surgery involves restoring, reconstructing, or otherwise altering the human body. Forced to discontinue his work after a scandal, he reached out for House’s fellowship opportunity as a lifeline.

Remy Hadley (Thirteen)
Fox

Dr. Remy Hadley, better known as Thirteen, is another fellow of diagnostic medicine, this time with a specialty in internal medicine. Perhaps one of the more overarching specialties, Internists focus on the prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of internal diseases, usually in adult populations. More importantly for House’s team, they have a knack for solving diagnostic conundrums, working with long-term diseases and chronic conditions… about which this character knew a thing or two.

Martha Masters
Fox

Unlike the rest of the doctors mentioned here, Martha Masters is a medical student who already holds a degree in statistics. With doctorate degrees in both applied math (with a focus on statistics) and art history, Dr. Cuddy saw Masters as a rising star in whatever field of medicine she chose.

Chi Park
Fox

Dr. Park is another of Dr. House’s diagnostic fellows, who shares her specialty of neurology with Foreman. A latecomer to the series, much like Foreman, Dr. Park served her time on the series delving into the nervous system. She is, however, far more like House than Foreman ever was.

Jessica Adams
Universal Television

Dr. Adams is the last fellow of diagnostic medicine to enter the show. She never got to determine a specialty, however. As the last entry into the Diagnostic Department before the show was canceled, it is unknown what Dr. Adam’s specialty was. She got turned onto House’s radar as his prison’s doctor.

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The Team’s Specialties and Relevant Episodes

To simplify all of that information, here are everyone’s positions in the hospital, specialties, and episodes to watch to find out more information.

Character Title Specialty Relevant Episode(s) Gregory House Head of the Diagnostics Department Nephrology Infectious Diseases Three Stories Season 1 Episode 21 James Wilson Head of Oncology Oncology The Social contract Season 5 Episode 17 Lisa Cuddy Chief Hospital Administrator Dean of Medicine Endocrinology Pilot Season 1 Episode 1 Eric Foreman Fellow of Diagnostic Medicine Dean of Medicine Neurology 97 Seconds Season 4 Episode 3 Robert Chase Fellow of Diagnostic Medicine Department of Surgery/Head of Surgery Head of Diagnostic Medicine Cardiology Intensive Care The Confession Season 8 Episode 5 Allison Cameron Fellow of Diagnostic Medicine Senior Emergency Room Attending Physician Head of Department in the Emergency Room Temporary Dean of Medicine Head of Emergency Medicine Immunology Maternity Season 1 Episode 4 Lawrence Kutner Fellow of Diagnostic Medicine Sports Medicine and Rehab Locked In Season 5 Episode 19 Chris Taub Plastic Surgeon Fellow of Diagnostic Medicine Plastic Surgery The Right Stuff Season 4 Episode 2 Remy Hadley (Thirteen) Fellow of Diagnostic Medicine Internal Medicine Ugly Season 4 Episode 7 Martha Masters Medical Student Statistics (from a former degree) Larger Than Life Season 7 Episode 9 Chi Park Fellow of Diagnostic Medicine Neurology Transplant Season 8 Episode 2 Jessica Adams Fellow of Diagnostic Medicine Unknown Twenty Vicodin Season 8 Episode 1

Stream House on Netflix.