Medical Specialties Trivia Quiz

Answer: pediatrician

Richard Mulligan played Dr. Harry Weston on the sitcom "Empty Nest" from 1988 to 1995. Dr. Weston was a widowed pediatrician who could work wonders with young children but had difficulty dealing with his two adult daughters. He had a third daughter who only showed up after Kristy McNichol left the show.

His practice was in Miami, Florida, mainly because the show was created by Susan Harris as a spin-off of "The Golden Girls". For some reason, I always found the most memorable character on the show was Dreyfuss, Dr. Weston's dog.

Answer: ob/gyn

Is there anyone who doesn't know that Cliff Huxtable was an obstetrician/gynecologist on "The Cosby Show" (1984-1992). He lived in Brooklyn with his wife Claire (an attorney) and his five children, although Sondra, the eldest, didn't show up in the earlier seasons.

At the time, the show was ground-breaking with its depiction of the every day life of a successful African-American family. The show was funny, heartwarming and, additionally, dealt with some tough issues. It was Cosby at his best.

Answer: neurosurgeon

"Man, woman, birth, death, infinity"...that was how every episode of "Ben Casey" (1961-1966) opened. We got to see the unsmiling neurosurgeon, Dr. Casey, deal with controversial topics at County General, a major metropolitan hospital. Vince Edwards portrayed Ben, while Academy Award nominee Sam Jaffe played his mentor and friend, Dr. David Zorba. Unlike the other feel-good medical shows of the time, e.g., "Dr. Kildare", the show was grittier and more realistic, and far more somber.

Answer: diagnostician

Talk about surly...I would literally have to be dying before I made an appointment with Dr. Gregory House! Hugh Laurie, a British comedian and musician, played "House, M.D." (2004-2012) with the perfect American accent and the heavy-handedness of a Viking. Although what he lacked in social skills he more than made up for as a brilliant diagnostician. He was the medical Sherlock Holmes (House vs. Holmes, get it?) and his sidekick just happened to be Dr. Wilson (Wilson vs. Watson).
As an addendum, House has a double specialty in nephrology and infectious diseases.

Answer: medical examiner

The modern version of "Cagney and Lacey", "Rizzoli and Isles" (2010-2016) featured a Boston homicide detective, Jane Rizzoli, and her partner in crime (ha!), Maura Isles, medical examiner (think "Quincy" but much better looking and more fashionably dressed). Together they were assigned to solve Boston's most complex murders, sometimes in danger themselves. Angie Harmon ("Law and Order") and Sasha Alexander ("N.C.I.S.") made the partnership believable.

Answer: internist

I listed the show in the question in order to differentiate the character from the Dr. Mark Sloan ('McSteamy') on "Grey's Anatomy". Mark Sloan on "Diagnosis: Murder" (1992-2002) was played by the wonderful Dick Van Dyke. On the show, Dr. Sloan was the Chief of Internal Medicine at Community General Hospital. Like Jessica Fletcher, he seemed to be a magnet for murder. Often the doctor's son, a detective on the local police force got his father involved in the sleuthing. Oh, BTW, Dr. Sloan's son was played by Barry Van Dyke (nepotism?!).

Answer: oncologist

I previously mentioned Dr. House...well, here is his buddy, Dr. James Wilson. Dr. Wilson on "House" was played by Robert Sean Leonard (from "Dead Poet's Society"). His medical specialty was oncology, i.e., the study and treatment of tumors - a pretty stressful field, not to mention the stress radiating out of his good friend and Vicodin addict, Greg House. Dr. Wilson, head of the Department of Oncology, and Dr. House both practiced medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey.

Answer: general surgeon

Miranda Bailey is a general surgeon who became the Chief of Surgery at Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital (formerly Seattle Grace-Mercy West) in Seattle, Washington. Chandra Wilson has played the role on the TV medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" since the show's inception in 2005.

Her character is complicated; she can be kind, loving and thoughtful, but she can also demonstrate how she earned the nickname "The Nazi", by being blunt and demanding. In either case, her approach is a very direct one.

Answer: general practitioner

Ah, remember those halcyon days when doctors actually made house calls? There was the old general practitioner, e.g., Doc Adams, Dr. Quinn, Dr. Kiley and, of course, the wonderful, caring Dr. Marcus Welby on "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1969-1976). Who wouldn't want a house call from the kindly Dr. Welby? The California doctor was played by Robert Young, after he was upgraded from insurance salesman on "Father Knows Best".

He saw a wide variety of patients but never lost his patience!

Answer: forensic anthropologist

The segue from kindly old Doc Welby to the brilliant, but isolated and cold, Dr. Temperance Brennan is about as vast as the Grand Canyon. Of course, given Dr. Brennan's back story, her abandonment and tenure as a foster child, we understand her lack of social skills.

However, as she herself would immodestly say, she is probably the best forensic anthropologist in the world. Dr. Brennan can be found studying dead bodies at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, D.C. on the show "Bones" which first aired in 2005.

She also is a best-selling author and helps solve murders with her FBI agent husband, Seeley Booth.

Answer: paleontologist

Unlike many of the other doctors in this quiz, Ross Geller was a paleontologist with a Ph.D, not a medical doctor. A paleontologist is a scientist who studies fossils; the word paleontology comes from the Greek 'paleo' , i.e., ancient, 'onto' or being, and 'logy' or study. Ross was a character on the sitcom "Friends" (1994-2004) played by David Schwimmer, and even though he was supposed to be the smartest of the group, he was kind of goofy. I also can't recall ever seeing him at his work.

Answer: forensic entomologist

Another Ph.D was Gil Grissom; he was played by William Petersen on "C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation" (2000-2015). This was one of the first programs to investigate and use forensic evidence in order to solve crimes. Although there have been several spin-offs, this was the original show, set in Las Vegas, Nevada. Grissom worked with the Las Vegas Police Department.

A forensic entomologist is one who studies insects and arthropods in order to deal with criminal matters and legal cases.

Answer: psychiatrist

Lorraine Bracco played Dr. Jennifer Melfi, a psychiatrist for mafia boss Tony Soprano on the HBO series "The Sopranos" (1999-2007). Tony chose her as his 'shrink' because, like him, she was Italian-American. Being a mob boss can be very stressful with all the 'whacking', power struggles and illegal activities; one day Tony had a panic attack and decided to seek help (very unusual in his macho oriented world). Anyway, he confided in Dr. Melfi to the point that he told her things he did not reveal to his associates or even his wife, Carmela. Fade to black...!

Answer: chiropractor

Alan Harper was a chiropractor (D.C.) on the show "Two and a Half Men" (2003-2015). A chiropractor is a health care professional, although not considered a medical doctor. They treat disorders of the body (causing pain) with non-surgical methods, e.g., manipulation of the spine.

It's too bad Alan Harper couldn't treat himself, because he had major problems and self-esteem issues. He was divorced with a son. They wound up living with his womanizing brother, Charlie, in Charlie's Malibu Beach house where Alan did very little except whine. Even when Charlie was replaced by Walden, Alan still mostly whined.

Answer: thoracic surgeon

Remember when wives wore dresses with pearls, stayed home with the kids and baked cookies? The days of June Cleaver seem long ago, especially when you look at the accomplished wives of today, e.g., Claire Huxtable, Elyse Keaton and Abbey Bartlet, wife of POTUS Jed Bartlet on "The West Wing" (1999-2006). Stockard Channing came a long way from Rizzo in "Grease" to play the First Lady of the United States, who also happened to be a thoracic surgeon.

A thoracic surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgical procedures on the organs in the chest, e.g., heart and lungs. Channing won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in 2002 for her role.