Podcast episode: ‘The Pitt’ is hugely popular. Is it medically accurate?

Sepideh Moafi, fourth from left, as Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, the new attending physician, huddles with her team around a patient in a fictional Pittsburgh teaching hospital in the HBO Max series The Pitt. Warrick Page/HBO Max

By Michal Ruprecht, Regina G. Barber, Hannah Chinn and Rebecca Ramirez

Jan. 20, 2026

Michal Ruprecht’s medical school friends can’t stop talking about The Pitt.

Michal’s the Stanford Global Health Media Fellow at NPR, as well as a fourth-year med student. And it’s not just his friend group that’s watching. Health care experts he spoke to said The Pitt, a medical drama set in a fictional Pittsburgh hospital emergency department, is perhaps the most medically accurate show that’s ever been created.

So what about The Pitt makes it so accurate… and does the second season hold up as well as the first? Michal joins Short Wave to discuss.

Have a question about YOUR favorite show and whether science supports it? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

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This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Maggie Luthar.

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