How Grey's Anatomy Growing Intern Diversity Perfectly Replicates Real-Life Change
It’s slow progress, but progress nevertheless.
Grey's Anatomy has never been afraid to tackle very important social issues within the show, highlighting the severity of discrimination based on gender, economic status, sexual orientation, and, of course, race through some of the characters or patient stories.
What few people stop to consider, however, is how much the show's production was positively influenced by the ever-growing trend of inclusion and diversity in recent years.
Despite doing some blind auditions, the initial cast of Grey's Anatomy still ended up being primarily white, with only three people of color. As much as everyone loved the first intern group, MAGIC, and stuck by them through the years, it's important to acknowledge that there was only one non-white character in the entire group, Cristina Yang.
During the 19-year run of Grey's Anatomy, there has been a change that has affected diversity in real-life hospitals. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, by 2022, 10% of all medical school students were Black, and the number of Hispanic students rose to 12%.
While the medical field is still overwhelmingly white and male, there have been some significant improvements, which were perfectly reflected in the show.
If you compare the last group of interns the show got in season 19 with the first group ever, you can easily see the difference. The only white person in the group is Jules, and she has to go through tough competition with the other interns to prove her worth.
Fans may still be on the fence about the writing quality of these characters' stories, but they can't deny the importance of bringing as much diversity to the show as possible.
There is still a lot of room for improvement, both for the producers on the show and for all of us in real life.
If you want to see how the writers tackle the issue in the upcoming 20th anniversary season of Grey's Anatomy, keep an eye out for more news and behind-the-scenes coverage.
Source: U.S. News