7:00 A.M. with Noah Wyle and Dr. Joe Sachs

Summary

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The Pitt Podcast

Episode Title: 7:00 A.M. with Noah Wyle, Dr. Joe Sachs
Date: January 9, 2026
Hosted by: Dr. Alok Patel & Hunter Harris
Guests: Noah Wyle (Dr. Robbie, Executive Producer), Dr. Joe Sachs (Writer, Executive Producer, ER Physician)

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Overview

This episode serves as a deep dive into the Season 2 premiere of The Pitt, the HBO Max hospital drama. Hosts Dr. Alok Patel and Hunter Harris break down the episode’s storylines, character arcs, and the real-life medicine behind the drama. Special guests Noah Wyle (star/EP) and Dr. Joe Sachs (writer/EP, real ER doc) join to talk through creative choices, medical accuracy, story development, and the show’s cultural impact.

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Main Discussion & Key Insights

Returning to The Pitt: Anticipation & Characters

[02:27 – 04:59]

• Favorite returns:
  • Hunter is "ready to see" Charge Nurse Dana, calling her "my sister, my Shayla."
  • Also highlights Giovanni and Dr. McKay’s "girl time friendship."
  • Dr. Alok is excited for the dynamic between roommates Whitaker and Santos: "Whitaker, like the softer, comes from a farm... Santos, who's got some demons, but she's an amazing doctor and advocate."
• New season anticipation:
  • New attending Dr. Al Hashimi’s arrival stirs both excitement and tension: "She comes in like napalm."
  • "I'm such a Dr. Robbie, like, pit loyalist... Not too much [change]," says Hunter.

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Plot Highlights & Episode One Recap

[05:04 – 10:38]

• Dr. Robbie’s sabbatical:
  • Goes on leave, replaced temporarily by Dr. Al Hashimi.
  • Notable moment: Robbie rides his motorcycle to work without a helmet, a deliberate character cue discussed later with Noah Wyle.
• Power struggle in the ED:
  • Dr. Al Hashimi wants to rebrand the department, proposing to stop calling it "the Pit":
    • “I would argue the opposite. I think subconsciously, it affects those who work here. It also lowers expectations,” (Hunter, [06:42]).
  • Dr. Robbie feels observed and resistant to change, feeling "very observed and a little bit second guessed."
• Langdon’s return and accountability:
  • Emotional scene: Langdon confesses addiction and theft of medication to patient Louis:
    • “It was not only wrong and utterly unprofessional, but it was a betrayal of my Hippocratic oath, and it was a fucking crime,” (Noah Wyle as Langdon, [08:34]).
• Case drama:
  • Mel is named in a malpractice suit, providing an authentic lens on physician anxiety about lawsuits:
    • “Every emergency medicine doc gets sued sooner or later. Seriously, don’t sweat it,” (Dr. Joe Sachs, [11:35]).

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Real Medicine: Accuracy, Social Themes, and Easter Eggs

[12:22 – 18:45]

• “Frequent flyer” patients:
  • Discussion about repeat ER visitors, access to care, and how characters like Louis reflect real medical/social challenges.
  • Dr. Alok: "The question comes down to, is it because somebody has a social situation where they can't take care of their own health? ... Why do you continuously come back?" [13:02]
• Seasonal risks:
  • The holiday weekend’s potential ER catastrophes (burns, firework injuries) are foreshadowed.
  • “When I was a resident, I saw a rising star basketball player blow off his right hand from a firework,” (Dr. Alok, [17:49]).
• Nerdy medical “Easter eggs”:
  • Dr. Alok notes subtle details, such as accurate French pronunciation of “torsades de pointes,” calling it a “medical flex” ([19:08]).

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Creative Insights: Interview with Noah Wyle

[19:45 – 30:38]

• Robbie vs. Al Hashimi: Style Clash
  • Wyle: "Robby came up through people that put a lot of emphasis on diagnostics, hands-on palliative care... Al Hashimi is really excited by technology... not just what they could do in terms of diagnosing disease earlier, but...improve the interaction between physicians and patients." [20:58]
• Generational/Philosophical divide:
  • Robbie values “hands-on diagnostic acumen”; Al Hashimi brings data-driven efficiency.
• Robbie's sensitivity to observation:
  • “He feels very parental about this place. Very proprietary. He wants to make sure it's going to be in good hands.” ([21:30])
  • On feeling examined: “He's not used to being second guessed or questioned...He doesn't really want to be examined or looked at too closely.” ([23:18])
• Storytelling process:
  • Research is rooted in interviews across healthcare:
    • “It starts in the writing room...taking interviews with people from different aspects of the healthcare system: What should be on TV? What isn’t on TV?” ([24:05])
• Production & Acting – “Compartmentalizing” stress:
  • “Like a real doctor, you have to do a lot of compartmentalizing in what you’re concentrating on in any given moment.” ([25:40])
• On the helmetless motorcycle moment:
  • “I don't know that he wears that helmet. I think he puts it on the back of his backpack and tells everybody he wears it. But if we see him without it...it will be an interesting experiment for the audience to gauge his level of sincerity going forward.” ([28:18])
  • Draws a parallel to Gene Wilder’s iconic Willy Wonka entrance for audience ambiguity ([29:26]).
    • “The audience is privy to a clue that the characters...aren't aware of.” ([30:15])

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Crafting Medical Drama: Writing with Dr. Joe Sachs

[32:02 – 44:16]

• Medicine serves drama:
  • “We never start with the medicine. We always start with the dramatic needs of the character and then we find the medicine that fits.” ([33:00])
• Real cases inspire patient arcs:
  • Dr. Sachs recounts story origins that blend real medicine with character beats:
    • Giovanni fainting (season 1): Inspired by a rare degloving injury ([34:28]).
    • Black widow spider bite tricking everyone into thinking it’s appendicitis, which allows Giovanni to outsmart her mother ([35:49]).
• Season 2, Ep. 1 procedures:
  • Major case: “Clamshell thoracotomy” done to dramatize tension between Robbie and Al Hashimi; also juggles Samira’s family drama ([37:00]).
  • “There’s 21 patients in episode 201... old medical shows used to have one or two... you never know, are you going to spend one minute with this patient, or is this patient going to blossom [into a longer arc].” ([40:36])
  • “Easter eggs in the waiting room”: background patients may become more central many episodes later ([40:51]).
• Impact beyond TV:
  • Viewers (including medical professionals) have diagnosed real cases based on show content ([42:50]).
  • Example: After a “blue patient” episode, someone recognized methemoglobinemia in real life.
  • “The most rewarding part is telling great stories... because we're so current and so accurate that people are learning... and some individuals may be inspired to pursue a career in healthcare.” ([44:24])

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Langdon’s confession:

  • “It was not only wrong and utterly unprofessional, but it was a betrayal of my Hippocratic oath, and it was a fucking crime.” – Noah Wyle as Langdon ([08:34])

• Medicine for story's sake:

  • “We never start with the medicine. We always start with the dramatic needs of the character and then we find the medicine that fits.” – Dr. Joe Sachs ([33:00])

• On ambiguous storytelling:

  • “The audience is privy to a clue that the characters...aren't aware of.” – Noah Wyle ([30:15])

• What's most rewarding:

  • “People [viewers, professionals] are learning, and some individuals may be inspired to pursue a career in healthcare.” – Dr. Joe Sachs ([44:24])

• Hunter on Dr. Robbie’s vulnerability:

  • “If you have both hands extended to care for everyone else, who is caring for you?” ([31:05])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & returning characters: [02:27]
• Recap & new dynamics: [05:04]
• Langdon’s confession to Louis: [08:05]
• Malpractice anxiety (Mel): [10:53]
• Frequent fliers & real-life access to care: [12:22]
• Medical Easter eggs – torsades: [18:45]
• Interview: Noah Wyle joins: [19:45]
• Process & philosophy behind storytelling: [24:05]
• Motorcycle/helmet symbolism: [28:04]
• Interview: Dr. Joe Sachs joins: [32:02]
• Explaining the medical/dramatic blend: [33:00]
• Impact stories from viewers/professionals: [42:50]
• Final reflections on purpose & impact: [44:24]

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Tone & Language

The conversation is fast, vibrant, and peppered with humor, affection for favorite characters, and reverence for real medicine. The hosts bring sharp medical insight blended with screenwriter/culture-critic sensibility, consistently translating complex topics for fans and newcomers alike. Both guests show deep respect for the mix of narrative, medical accuracy, and ethical weight carried by the show. The atmosphere is passionate, sometimes vulnerable, and always deeply informed.

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Summary Takeaway

This companion podcast episode gives fans of The Pitt a meaty, fun, and revealing look inside the show’s creative and medical processes. It balances plot breakdown, character analysis, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and powerful reflections on how TV drama can genuinely influence real-world understanding and decisions. The passion and thoughtfulness of the team—both in writing and in practicing medicine—are front and center, making this a must-listen for fans of the show and anyone interested in how authentic drama is made.

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For full context and all moments, listen to the episode on HBO Max or your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript

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[Noah Wylie]

Nice of you to join us. Hey, Dr. Langdon.

[Hunter Harris]

Tier one trauma ETA six minutes.

[Noah Wylie]

And so it begins.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Welcome to the Pit Podcast, the Official companion to HBO Max's the Pit. I'm Dr. Alok Patel, physician, journalist, public health affectionado.

[Hunter Harris]

And I'm Hunter Harris, a screenwriter and cultural critic. Each week we'll take you inside the Pit and talk about what's going on with the characters, the cases, the patients at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Today we're talking about the very first episode of season two. You've been waiting for this moment.

[Hunter Harris]

We're talking to none other than the man himself, Dr. Robbie or Noah Wylie.

[Noah Wylie]

You know that the audience is privy to a clue that the characters around the character, protagonist aren't aware of.

[Hunter Harris]

We also had the chance to talk to Dr. Joe Sachs, a writer and.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Executive producer on the Pit, also an emergency medicine physician. Real deal.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

I love having two doctors talk in terms that no one in their right mind would understand unless they went to medical school.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

But.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

But the passion and the emotion and the conflict of it is palpable.

[Hunter Harris]

And if you missed it, definitely make sure to watch our pre premiere episode where we talk about season one with executive producers R. Scott Gimmel and John Wells.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

There's tremendous amount of research that actually.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Goes into determining what to wanna talk about rather than doing it kind of.

[Noah Wylie]

Top down in the sense of what.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Are the things that you wanna see.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

A lot of it comes from talking.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

To their two physicians who are in.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

The room full time, who are writers on the show. We have a lot to get into. The shift starts now.

[Noah Wylie]

You're back.

[Hunter Harris]

It took some time. Like an old trail horse. Always find a way back home.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Hunter, come with it. What character or duo were you most excited to see in this return to the Pit in season two?

[Hunter Harris]

It has been a long time without charge. Nurse Dana. I was ready to see her.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

That is your ride or die.

[Hunter Harris]

No, truly, I embraced her with open arms. I said, my sister, my Shayla. Also, I want to say that Giovanni and Dr. McKay, I feel like they have a very good partnership chemistry. I loved that scene last season where Giovanni was sort of third wheeling herself on the date between Dr. McKay and the nurse. And I am like, I like their, like, you know, their, like, girl time friendship. It's good. What about you?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I like that. Listen, I think the. I don't want to say obvious answer, but I bet a lot of people watching this show are excited to see, like, Langdon get back. How's it going to be with Langdon and Robbie? Langdon and Dana gonna try to be a little bit more original. I'm really excited to see Whitaker and Santos.

[Hunter Harris]

The roommates.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

The roommates. That was the end of season one. We did not say. I mean, are they gonna be lovers now? Are they gonna be enemies now? Like, I don't know.

[Hunter Harris]

I. I feel like it's hard working with someone who you also, like, go home to see. Like, it's hard working with a roommate. So I. I think they'll be like, let's not talk at work. We can talk at home.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Yeah, I get it. But it's a.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

You know, I'm just.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I'm just saying there's. There's. There's a really fun difference in energy between them. Whitaker. Whitaker, like the softer comes from a farm.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Santos, who's got. She's got some demons, but she's an amazing doctor and advocate. She's fierce. And I think the two of them together are gonna make for, like, an interesting setup.

[Hunter Harris]

I mean, how does it feel for you to be back in the pit, though? Because I am. Like, I've come home. Let me get my stethoscope out. I'm ready to, like, do some practice of medicine even. But also with Dr. Al Hashmi coming, I'm a little bit, like, I'm such a Dr. Robbie, like, pit loyalist. I'm a Leo. What can I say where I'm like, hold on, not too much. Like, you're coming into our pit. You can't just come in here and start wanting to change things. I'm feeling a little bit observed. I. I don't know. It makes me a little bit uncomfortable. How do you feel?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I love the ownership you still have. You're coming into our pit. I love it. Let me think about this for a second. In this episode, if I go directly to just nerdy Dr. Brain, what immediately captivated me is you have this new attending rolling in. Dr. Al Hashimi. I'm excited to see what. How everyone has grown and matured over the past 10 months. You know, people are one year ahead in residency. Like, I'm curious to see how the dynamics change.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah, well, this was a great episode. Let's talk about what happened in episode one.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

New characters, new interns, new haircuts. Hunter, catch us up.

[Hunter Harris]

Okay, so Dr. Rappi is going on sabbatical. We see him, and I want to talk about this because I know that this bumped you a lot. We see him riding into work on the motorcycle, no helmet. I know, cuckoo bananas. But he's going on sabbatical. He's going on. What is it, like a three month thing. But I think there's a little bit of joking as to how long he'll actually be gone. And running the ER or the ED, I should say. In his stead is Dr. Al Hashemi, who is. I don't think she's very prickly, but she definitely has different ideas about how the ED should be run. And there's a bit of a tension between them where Dr. Robbie feels both very observed and a little bit second guessed. And she is like, let me in. I wanna. If I'm supposed to take over for you, how am I supposed to do that without you kind of helping me and telling me what to do?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I just like that. She comes in like napalm and she's like, you know, she's like. I worked on this project at the VA hospital. We got patient passports. Here's how we're gonna make things more efficient. Like, good for her. Stand up.

[Hunter Harris]

I. We'll see. I'm a loyalist. We'll see. Let's hear from her words.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

How's she comfortable? That's even better.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Hi.

[Hunter Harris]

I know you're crazy busy.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Always.

[Hunter Harris]

But I figured we should really go over a few things before you're gone.

[Noah Wylie]

Sure. Where would you like to start?

[Hunter Harris]

Well, one little thing that I think would have a big impact with staff and patients alike in is if we launched a campaign to eradicate referring to this wonderful department as the pit.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Really?

[Hunter Harris]

I know you think it's silly and petty.

[Noah Wylie]

No, I think it's just kind of endearing. Pretty damn accurate.

[Hunter Harris]

I would argue the opposite. I think subconsciously, it affects those who work here. It also lowers expectations, which in turn lowers patient satisfaction.

[Noah Wylie]

You've been talking to Gloria?

[Hunter Harris]

Yes, and she agrees with me.

[Noah Wylie]

Don't doubt that.

[Hunter Harris]

For.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Listen. Yeah.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

You can't rename the pit.

[Hunter Harris]

I. No, it's our pit. It's my pit. We Share it all. I felt like she came in a little bit hot, but I also want to talk about the choreography of that scene where Dr. Alhashmi is kind of right on top of Dr. Robbie, and he feels very like, can you kind of like, get away a little bit? I'm a big personal space person, so that really. That really got under my skin.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I mean, that's by design. Gotta be.

[Hunter Harris]

And no, bold, for sure. I think. I love big ideas. But I understand Dr. Rabi being a little bit like, eh, relax.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

So what I think is interesting also is Langdon is back, and we are inevitably gonna see his interaction with his colleagues, with the nurses. But I'm curious to see how it plays out when he revisits patients. And, like, there is a pretty pivotal scene where he just comes to Louis and he just owns it. He owns what happened.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah. And I was nervous. Cause it's like, that takes a lot of. A lot of wherewithal to come to someone and say, I apologize. And something that happened that you didn't even know about.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Maybe also, like, louie's the man. Anyway, let's relive that moment. It was heartfelt.

[Noah Wylie]

There's something I need to tell you. Last time I saw you, about 10 months ago, I treated you and I took some of your medicine. I'm not sure I follow. I have an addiction to benzos, and I helped myself to some of the Librium I prescribed you for your withdrawal. You stole my pills? Yeah. Yes. I'm sorry. It was not only wrong and utterly unprofessional, but it was a betrayal of my Hippocratic oath, and it was a fucking crime. That's where I've been rehab and counseling. Huh. I'm sorry. I understand if you prefer a different doctor.

[Hunter Harris]

Hey, Doc, we have a situation.

[Noah Wylie]

Excuse me. What kind of situation?

[Hunter Harris]

Someone left the little baby in the restroom.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Langton hit on so many checkboxes there from owning it, explaining it, talked about the process he did to his recovery and saying, like, it was a fucking crime. Just like saying that phrase.

[Hunter Harris]

Maybe from my point of view, I'm so stuck on Louis. Not really. Like, what do you mean? Like, he seems so confused because he obviously trusts Langdon a lot. And it seems very discordant with everything he's seen from Langdon before, that he would be, like, lying to him in this way. But then we end the scene with a baby left in the ed, abandoned. I'm like, what could possibly. Oh, this baby is so cute. What could possibly happen?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

That was wild.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I mean, if there's Anything that's gonna pull him away from Louis in that moment, it had to be an abandoned.

[Hunter Harris]

Baby, a truly crying baby in a bathroom. But the other big piece of drama this episode is that mel, our beloved Dr. King, is being named in a malpractice suit. When I heard that, I'm like, oh, my God, call Erin Brockovich. But are you. Like, that happens all the time, Mel.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

The threat of lawsuits happens all the time, okay? Like, whether it's from a third party, you know, from a law firm that's like, hey, this patient did this. Or patients themselves screaming in the ER and saying, like, we're gonna sue you. And then some states have laws that protect physicians differently than others. And the reality is, is I can't imagine a situation where Mel herself would be named in a lawsuit. And it wouldn't be something that's also involving the rest of the pit. I don't know. But I'm on her side.

[Hunter Harris]

She has a lot of anxiety about it, a lot of emotions. Should we take a look at those?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Yeah. Like, I mean, I felt her emotion and meant like. And anyone who's like, hey, I'm gonna sue you. Like, you worry about. I feel for Mel. Mel, we got you.

[Hunter Harris]

What's up with you today, Mel Lynch? What makes you think there's something up with me? You're moping around here all day like somebody gunned down your face. What's your favorite K pop band? I don't really have a favorite K pop band. Not that I don't like the genre. Forget K pop. What's going on with you? You usually ride in here on your unicorn, tossing wildflowers.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Unicorn?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Never mind.

[Hunter Harris]

Is everything okay with your sister? Oh, yeah, she's great. It's just this over here. Spill, girl. Well, a couple of months ago, I got named in a malpractice lawsuit. And so today is the deposition. That's it. Every emergency medicine doc gets sued sooner or later. Seriously, don't sweat it. You're still a resident. We're protected by the hospital. You could cut somebody's head off and get away with it. You know, like, don't.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Taylor Direden's acting is phenomenal. I don't have a favorite K pop band. It's so good.

[Hunter Harris]

It's actually like, she's really thinking about it in real time. Like, do I. No, I don't think so, actually. I have to say, Santos is so clever. Melancholia, Mel, practice. All of those little nicknames. I'm like, okay, Santos has the quickest wit in the Ed and like, them.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Intermixing in that situation. And you can tell that Santos cares because she's like, what's going on? But her way of showing care is hilarious.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah. Okay, we've seen a return patient, Louis, who I loved from season one.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Love Louie.

[Hunter Harris]

I mean, is it possible for a patient to light up a room where you're like, I'm actually so happy to see you, but I wish you weren't here? Exactly. Like, how often are repeat patients like that a thing?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

It definitely happens. Some places will use these offensive names for them, like repeat offender, frequent flyer.

[Hunter Harris]

Frequent flyer is funny.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Frequent flyer's funny. I'm like, that one's kind of cute.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

And the question comes down to is, why are they continuously coming back? And like, Louis is acted so well written so well. Because, yes, you have the situation in which he's continuously drinking, probably not following some type of lifestyle modification, but he's, like, such a joy in the yard that people are like, oh, hey, it's Louis back. And you have those patients for sure. I think the question that people always wonder is, okay, is it because somebody has a social situation where they can't take care of their own health? Do they. Can they not afford their medications? Do they not have access to primary care? Like, why do you continuously come back? So when you have these quote unquote, frequent flyers, you essentially are always looking to say, like, what can we do so that you can take care of yourself in whatever situation you're in? And again, second, shout out to social workers, because they definitely help with making sure that resources are met. And then what you mentioned earlier. But are there some patients that just light up the room? Absolutely, there are some patients. And, like, I will. Doctors will see the family and say, like, hey, it's so good to see you, but, like, not in this scenario. Like, I wish I was seeing you, like, at the grocery store.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

But that definitely happens.

[Hunter Harris]

Is there ever a moment, though, where you're like, okay, I've given you the same advice four times in a row. Like, you can't come back here already. At least. I feel like if someone doesn't take my advice, I'm a little bit, like, annoyed about it. Do you ever feel it with a patient who's like, a frequent flier?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I think that, yes, I think that not only do I feel it, I think, like, many of my colleagues feel it.

[Hunter Harris]

Okay.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

But this topic goes back to something that John Wells was telling us in that as more people don't have access to primary care or can't afford basic preventative health services. Where are they going? They're going to the emergency departments. And so I think we're going to continuously, possibly see more of this theme in season two is, like, when basic access to healthcare is shook a little bit, there, unfortunately, might be more Louis. Maybe not as pleasant as him either, I'm gonna say.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah, usually not as pleasant. He is uniquely jolly, I would say.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

So. Robbie and Langdon. I can see that Langdon's, like, trying to get back into kind of that casual conversation, and he's asking about the motorcycle trip, and Robbie still kind of has his guard up. Like, where do you think this relationship is going? He's like, you go to triage. Don't be around me right now. Where are we going with this?

[Hunter Harris]

I'll tell you where it came from. Middle school. That feels like bullying. I'm like, wait, no, let him sit with you at the cool kids table. Like, please, like, let him back in. I. Dr. Robbie feels a real sense of, like, being violated because he and Langdon were so close before. They did have that kind of boyish affection with each other. Very. Felt, like, brotherly love. And, I mean, we can talk about, like, the last season where there was that amazing scene where Robbie confronts Langdon, and you can see the personal hurt as well as the, like, professional hurt in his face and in his eyes. And. I don't know. I mean, it's hard to watch Langdon try to get Robbie's attention, try to get back in his good graces, But I feel like, on a busy day, I don't know how much time Robbie's gonna have to truly, like, come to terms with how he feels about Langdon. And I hope we get to see that, but I'm not sure that we will. What do you think?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I think there's. There's something to be said about the last 10 months. Like, Langdon went on this. On this path for himself and went to rehab, presumably spent more time with his family, like, got his stuff together. And, like, what was Robbie doing in the past 10 months? Did he not give himself time to. To heal? Did the hurt of Langdon with Pitfest. Did all this, you know, come down on him? And he has not moved past things because you would think that he'd also be like, hey, you took the time to. To get better and get over your addiction, And I took the time to, like, forgive you. We're friends again. I don't. There seems to be a discontinuity.

[Hunter Harris]

No, I think that's what happens after addiction, where it's, like, you know, Someone who has done the work is healing starts from a place of here. But, you know, Dr. Robbie, obviously, he still feels like the open wound and especially the fact that Langdon was dismissed right before the MCI when Robbie needed him the most, I feel like that has a lot to do with, I think, Dr. Robbie's healing.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Well. If, like, he could have gone and done his process, and then if Dr. Robbie's like, Yo, I'm not ready, then Langdon needs to be like, I understand. I don't know. Like, I.

[Hunter Harris]

Some people need to take space. And I think. I hope that Langdon is open to that and doesn't take it as just, you know, the hurt of rejection.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

He's still got great hair.

[Hunter Harris]

So last season wasn't a holiday. It was just like a regular day. But now we are on the 4th of July weekend, which I'm like, okay, I have every radar on. I'm so nervous. I don't know what's gonna happen. I just hope that no one brings, like, a firework to this hospital or there's nothing, you know, like the dumb summer stuff that happens on the 4th of July weekend. How do you feel going into this weekend?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Oh, I am absolutely pessimistic, I think.

[Hunter Harris]

And you. You work holidays, right?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Oh, yeah.

[Hunter Harris]

Oh, and I.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

And I worry that there's going to be some form of pyrotechnics, some form of firecracker sparkler or something, and, like, limbs might get blown off, eyes might get damaged, burns may happen. Fires may happen. That's what I'm just the most. The burns, all of it. I mean, it's. People wind up in ERs every single year during the 4th of July because people are messing around with fireworks. They're not taking the safety precautions, no matter. Warnings there are. When I was a resident, I saw a rising star basketball player blow off his right hand from a firework.

[Hunter Harris]

Oh, my gosh.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

And you see these happen. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. So this. This setup that it's fourth of July weekend. I'm with you. Or I'm already like, oh, my gosh.

[Hunter Harris]

I almost have to Wonder, why couldn't Dr. Robbie just finesse the schedule a little bit? And his last weekend was like, the last weekend of July of June or something like that, you know, just to get out a little bit. So I'm watching this as a person who, like, barely has a pcp. But I want to know for. From you, like, are you watching this and noticing specific details, specific moments that really stand out to you as a medical Professional.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Oh, totally.

[Hunter Harris]

Okay.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

And it makes it fun because it's almost like they insert these medical Easter eggs in the show that you're like, if you. If you miss them completely, it doesn't change your experience.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

But if you catch them, you're like, oh, my gosh. That's a really subtle, funny little moment. Like, I'll give you one.

[Hunter Harris]

Okay.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

So during the first scene with Dr. Al Hashemi, when she has, like, the residents practicing, like, CPR on that mannequin, and then she comes in and she's like, hey. Like, it was the wrong rhythm. The rhythm that it showed is something that we just call tersades. And what she says, she's like, that's actually toussade de point. Like, she says the proper French pronunciation.

[Hunter Harris]

Oh.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Which is a very specific little quirk in medicine. When you say these eponymous names and you pronounce them by their, like, origin language. People don't usually do that. It's almost kind of like a flex. But that French word, tursade de pointes means, like, twisting of the points, which is what that patient had. But we would just say tursades. But, like, she went this extra little.

[Hunter Harris]

I love that she did that on her first day.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Just, like, let them know it's Toussades point. Like a little.

[Noah Wylie]

Little.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Little something. She's like, medical protocols being followed. New little medical details. They give the entire medical audience a little bit. Kind of. They give. They add a little something for the medical audience to stay glued to it, which I think is super cool.

[Hunter Harris]

We had the privilege to talk to the man himself, and I. Let me get all this down. Excuse me. Sorry. Actor, writer, executive producer, director, and Emmy award winner.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

An advocate.

[Hunter Harris]

An advocate.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Amazing.

[Hunter Harris]

Noah Wylie.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I was like, oh, my gosh. We get to meet the legend himself. What an honor.

[Hunter Harris]

It was amazing.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Great to be here with you. Pleasure. So Dr. Robbie walks into season two, I should say he motorcycles in. We'll get back to that later.

[Hunter Harris]

Okay.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

And off the bat, you're introduced to Dr. Al Hashimi. The audience is introduced to her not only as your equal as another ER attending, but someone who's going to be potentially stepping in. In your former role during your sabbatical. Within the first few minutes, there's already some hot phrases dropped. Like, she's torturing the interns. You know, she is the one that the Qi doctor, the one who is the informatics. You heard that phrase. I believe I'm quoting this correctly. Great balls of disrespect. And I just wanted to ask you.

[Noah Wylie]

Giant balls of disrespect.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Giant balls of disrespect.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Thank you for the clarification.

[Noah Wylie]

These are medical terms.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

It's medical jargon. So I wanted to ask you about how Dr. Ravi and Dr. Alhashimi approach ER differently and where is the friction?

[Noah Wylie]

Well, I think it's slightly generational in a way, even though we're not that far apart in age, totally different schools of medicine. I think Robby came up through people that put a lot of emphasis on diagnostics, hands on real sort of palliative care and hands on diagnostic acumen. And Alashimi is really excited by the breakthroughs in technology and not just what they could do in terms of diagnosing disease earlier, but how they can improve the interaction between physicians and patients. When you're taking a history, just the ability to record and have something immediately downloaded into a chart and allowing you to keep eye contact with the patient, to sit bedside, to not feel like you have to only type things into a screen and not have that personal connection. And then the efficiency of being able to pull up that chart, see that it's in the proper format and just have to go through it for factual and spelling mistakes frees up a lot of time in a physician's day that's oftentimes spent after shift doing all that catch up work. So it's an incredibly interesting tool. You know, Robby's counterargument to efficiency is that they give you more work. When you are given more time, you'll be asked to see more patients. Given that you now no longer will have to spend that time charting that there's always a blowback to these advancements and God forbid the power goes out. It's his kind of thinking, which is legit as this technology is, while impressive, still not 100% foolproof. But it allowed us to create not an antagonistic character to Robbie, but one that approaches medicine from a different perspective. Having had a different journey and as he thinks about imparting his ED to another attending when he goes on his sabbatical, he feels very parental about this place, very proprietary. He wants to make sure it's going to be in good hands that he leaves it with.

[Hunter Harris]

How do you feel like Dr. Rappi feels about being so observed? And especially the first episode when Dr. Alhashimi is like really kind of looking over his should second guessing him, but just asking for him to explain maybe what he's doing or why.

[Noah Wylie]

I don't think he's used to it. I don't think, you know, he's been kind of a lone wolf attending for a long time and sort of the head of the place. So he's not used to being second guessed or questioned. He's also at a point in his life where he doesn't really want to be examined or looked at too closely. This is his last shift. It's a little bit like getting out under the wire for him before things that he doesn't want to show begin to show. So I hope that answers your question.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah. Thank you. Can you tell us a little bit about how your work as an actor on the show informs your work behind the camera, as a writer, as a director?

[Noah Wylie]

How my work on the show informs my work behind the show? I think it's.

[Hunter Harris]

Or vice versa.

[Noah Wylie]

The other way around.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Yeah.

[Noah Wylie]

No, it starts in the writing room. It starts at the beginning of the season sitting there with the other writers and taking interviews with people from different aspects of the healthcare system and saying, what should be on tv, what isn't on tv? What would be helpful for you to have put on tv? What would be counterproductive to the work you do to have on TV? What's happening out there? What could happen in six months if this doesn't happen? What could happen in 12 months? Which population is going to be the most vulnerable if this happens? Who's most at risk? And then you get all that data and you start to begin to draw storylines through it. How do we talk about the loss of health insurance to somebody in the face of Medicaid cuts? How can we put that into flesh and blood and have it be relatable to a viewer who might be able to identify the experience either from somebody that they know or from their own family, what resources might be made available to them. This becomes dramatic and educational and sort of engaging in a way that makes it topical but also entertaining, hopefully, and puts these issues that are kind of dry on the page into flesh and blood, where you can actually sort of see consequence.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I think a topic that's very relatable that Noah, the executive producer and writer, brings to Dr. Robbie is the intensity. A doctor facing this awful day in the er. And, you know, it's. It's realistic. You're in this intensity in the ER, but then also you have your own personal trauma. Dr. Robbie has these flashbacks. Do you feel that stress on set? Is it hard to separate when you're out there?

[Noah Wylie]

Do I feel that stress on set? You know, it's a different set of stresses when you're trying to accomplish the execution of production and Photography of a moment. You know, there's a lot of variables that go into that, and one of those variables is your own performance. And so, like a real doctor, you have to do a lot of compartmentalizing in what you're concentrating on in any given moment. I find that set space to be, you know, my real happy place that I get there every day. And I just can't wait to put on my costume and hit the floor and immerse myself in that reality and tell that much more of the story with these incredible artists. And, you know, this show has been an answered prayer and a dream come true for me and an opportunity for me to stretch myself as an artist and as a writer and as a director. I'm gratified every day by being part of it. And the blowback, the feedback, the resonance that the show's having globally is. Been extremely gratifying.

[Hunter Harris]

In those moments of like, you know, higher stress, higher intensity, how do you disengage? Or when does Noah come out and Dr. Robbie go away?

[Noah Wylie]

Well, you know, we're right in the middle of it now. We're shooting episode 13, and it's hard to come out. It's certainly hard to come out and talk about the work objectively when you're really quite in the middle of it, trying to land this massive 747 emotionally. And so it's sometimes easier to stay in it when you get into the latter episodes because then the aggregate fatigue of the whole shift that you're supposed to be bringing in. Before we start at 6:30 in the morning, we have to already be playing as if we've been there for 12 or 13 hours already. So it requires more and more focus the deeper into the season we get. But this is the stuff that I find most exciting about what I do is getting to play with this kind of intensity, fatigue, specificity, nuance, that's like, this is as good as it gets.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Opening scene, like, the very first thing we see is Dr. Robbie motorcycle. There's no way in my mind that Dr. Robbie was not going to be wearing a helmet. And I was like, oh, my gosh.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

It really is Dr. Robbie.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

That has got to be some type of very well thought out character placement moment. Can you tell us a little bit about what went into that idea? Being like, actually, I'm going to tell the audience that I'm on a motorcycle. This is how I live.

[Noah Wylie]

Well, what has Robby been doing for the last 10 months? What kind of therapy has he sought out to? What ability has he been able to synthesize his experiences. He's telling everybody that they should make full use of all the mental health resources available. He hasn't made much use of them himself, but he has been restoring this old motorcycle with an aim of taking a three month sabbatical and writing it off on a kind of utopian. And then as the shift goes on, we begin to question his motivations for taking this trip and what this trip really is representing for him. And early on, obviously, in the writing stages, we planned on me riding to work on this motorcycle that I've been restoring. And it was always intentioned that I would be wearing a helmet, as any doctor would. And then we got to shooting it in Pittsburgh, and I had dinner with John Welles the night before we shot the scene. He was directing. And I said, you know, I don't know that he wears that helmet. I think he puts it on the back of his backpack and tells everybody he wears it. But if we see him without it and he tells people he wears it, we won't know what's true and what isn't. And it will be an interesting experiment for the audience to gauge his level of sincerity going forward. And the example that I use, which is sort of a famous one, is that Gene Wilder supposedly said he would not be participating in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He wouldn't play Willy Wonka unless his character could come out the front door of the Chocolate Factory as his introduction with a limp and a cane, and then at a certain point, fall forward and come up in a somersault and then take bow. And the director was like, why? And he said, because they won't know where I'm coming from after that. They won't know whether they can believe me or not. They'll be absolutely on unsure footing from the second the character introduces himself. And I thought, well, that's so smart, you know, that the audience is privy to a clue that the characters around the character, protagonist, aren't aware of. They're ahead of the storytelling just by witnessing that.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Dang, that was deep.

[Hunter Harris]

That was great.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Thank you. Wow. Like, Noah's the real deal.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah, that was a great interview. And I also. I mean, you really had him with the helmet question. That was so good.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

I had no idea that it was that thought out. Like, they had such a conversation about what that meant. Yeah, the ride, no pun intended. It was gonna take the audience on. I thought he was just gonna be like, oh, I'm badass.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah. I mean, something that I think about a lot with Dr. Robbie is that if you have both hands extended to care for everyone else who is caring for you and you know, give from an empty cup.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Oh dang, that was like deep. We might go to commercial break so I can like sit, sit with that for a second.

[Commercial Narrator]

The Volvo XC90 is equipped with seven seat versatility, Google built in and advanced safety features for all your precious Cargo. The Volvo XC90 designed for life. Visit volvocars.com us to learn more. Google is a trademark of Google LLC.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

On his podcast Chasing Life, I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent brings.

[Noah Wylie]

You the secrets of the happiest and.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Health people on the planet so that you can live your best life.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Are some people just born happier than others? And what might they be doing that the rest of us aren't?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Follow chasing life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Apple, Spotify, Iheart podcasts, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Hunter Harris]

Alok, I need to go outside the.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Pit for a minute, get some fresh air.

[Hunter Harris]

Now. I'm so happy to have you as a doctor in my life. We also have Dr. Joe Sachs, who is a writer and executive producer on the pit with us to talk about the bigger themes.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

And he's an ER doctor, the real deal. He knows what's up. Before we even start, I just have to say, Dr. Joe Sachs, it is a huge honor to be able to talk to you emergency medicine, physician, television writer, producer, executive producer, Emmy winner. Like, basically, sir, I want to be you when I grow up.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Just saying, well, it's a pleasure to be here. And I'm just Joe.

[Hunter Harris]

Well, thank you so much for being here. This is going to be such an honor. I want to start with asking, you know, the pit gets so much attention for its medical accuracy, as Dr. Alok Patel can attest himself. But you wrote one of the most intense episodes of season one, the aftermath of the Pitfest shooting. What kind of research do you do when you're working on an episode? And how do you kind of juggle the emotional parts of the show with also like the medical parts of the show?

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Wow. Well, the first answer is that we never start with the medicine. We always start with the dramatic needs of the character and then we find the medicine that fits. And what is the medicine that fits? You know, the medicine that fits comes from our well of ideas. And this well is stocked by physician writers who have over 100 years of experience in emergency medicine and trauma briefings with experts on every topic that we are going to cover. Focus groups with real nurses and real doctors from residency training programs and trauma centers in la. So we just collect masses and masses of stories and they're all just waiting for the right time to really, really illustrate what's going on dramatically. I'll give a quick example from season one if you'd like, because it's so important. And I'm going to focus on the character Giovanni, the medical student. So I'm going to do three beats of Giovanni's arc. The first one is the writer's room looking to me and saying what would make a medical student faint on the first day of her rotation? And you know, we've seen thoracotomies, we've seen chest tubes, we've seen all this. But there was a case from my experience that really, really grabbed people and that was the degloving fracture, dislocation of the foot. And to have to put that foot back in season one, episode one was what made Dr. Excuse me, medical student Chavati go down. So then we're going to fast forward a little bit. And nobody knows that Giovanni's mother is a surgeon and she's trying to keep that on the DL because she doesn't want to broadcast that to the world. So the question for this episode is how could Javadi's mother embarrass her in front of everyone? So, Joe, how are we going to do that? So what I did was I had the mom, who's a surgeon come down to consult on an appendectomy patient. And, and she gets the med students and the intern in the room and says, who can tell me about the Coda study? It was a study in the New England Journal of Medicine where antibiotics alone rather than surgery was effective in quite a few of the patients, showing that you didn't always need surgery for appendectomy. So she says, who can tell me? And her daughter kind of freezes. And a different medical student answers the question and she says, come on, honey, we talked about that at the dinner table. And she's mortified. And Whitaker, I think, looks at her and goes, honey. So she's revealed she's unmasked as being, as being someone who perhaps has some nepotism going on in there. In an episode that I wrote, 108, which was, how can Giovanni one up her mother? How can Giovanni have a victory over her mother? And the case that I picked was again a case that I had, which is a black widow spider bite that can give you a rigid abdomen that can make it seem as though you have a life threatening infection, peritonitis and very often people with black widow spider bites had such intense pain in a rigid abdomen that they've gone to the operating room for an appendectomy, when, in fact, they need muscle relaxants for the black widow spider bite. So Giovanni1 ups her mother by discovering the black widow spider in the clog. So these are the kinds of things. And again, the stories that we're picking are real. They're kind of obscure and they're kind of interesting things that people haven't seen before. But again, they serve the dramatic purpose. And if you want to talk about episode 201, the season premiere, I can just go down a few of the cases and explain what the dramatic needs of the scene are and why we picked that particular case.

[Hunter Harris]

Yeah, that sounds great. Please.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Yeah.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

So.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

So, you know, the biggest case, the big trauma case, is what's called a clamshell thoracotomy, where not only do you open one side of the chest, but you open the other, and then you cut across the breastbone, and it's called popping the hood. The whole chest opens up, and this particular John Doe is stabbed by a kitchen knife from a. At a restaurant. And the whole purpose of that scene was to show the difference in the conflict between Robbie and Al Hashimi, the new attending. So she's new. She doesn't know how things work. Robbie is dialed in, and here's an interloper coming into his space who has different ideas about how to do things. So that conflict plays through the whole scene, as does Samira's phone consistently beeping with texts from her mother, because her mother is packing up the house and trying to get rid of all of her stuff from her childhood, much to her dismay. So especially while she's opening a chest and doing this, her phone is going off consistently, which kind of sets that story in motion for her. So there's always something else going on in the scene. We can talk about Louis, who's the alcoholic frequent flyer. Louis. Everybody, ER has freaking flyers. And, you know, it's. It's Langdon that's. That's there for Langdon. Langdon's first day back, and who does he see but Louis, who he stole some librium from because of his benzodiazepine addiction and has to make amends to Louis for doing what he did. So that kind of sets that in motion that Louis is back just with a toothache, but by the way, he's got a giant belly from ascites from alcoholism, cirrhosis, and gets handed off to Whitaker. And that'll become an important story for Whitaker. And then I'm going to end with Ethan Bostwick, who's the old man who comes in from a nursing home who has a cardiac arrest, he has a pulse. A physician order for life saving treatment, which some people would call a dnr. Do not resuscitate. I prefer the term. And allow natural death because that's what mother Nature is intending with somebody. And Whitaker is now teaching two new medical students, Ogilvy and Joy. And everything that he learned last year shines with the patient. The way he's respecting the patient, the way he's explaining to them about treating them with respect, about taking a moment of silence and asking them to turn their phones off. Because last year in the moment of silence is when his phone went off with some very funky music playing that was inappropriate for the time. And I think Robbie passes by and just looks into the room and sees Whitaker imparting the same wisdom that Robbie imparted to him the year before. So all these stories, you know, there's 21 patients in episode 201. You know, old medical shows used to have one or two patients. We're going to meet 21 patients. And what's wonderful and what's exciting about the pit is you never know, are you going to spend one minute with this patient or is this patient going to blossom into a patient that you're going for five or 10 or 15 episodes because it's all in one day and patients often stay there for that long. So that's, that's kind of the thrill of the pit. And if people go back after, if people go back after 10 or 12 episodes and look in that waiting room from episode 201, they're going to go, oh, wow. That person who finally made it back in episode five, they were there. They were just sitting there because they were waiting. So that's part of the fun of the episode, that there are some Easter eggs in the waiting room.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Oh, so many Easter eggs. I love that term. Joe, I'm glad that you brought up the dramatic inclusion of patients and how we go on a journey. We don't know how long it's going to be. And sometimes when people watch these cases unfold in the pit, it changes their own behavior. It raises awareness. I bet a lot of people are shaking their shoes now to make sure there's no black widows in there. That's something that we used to do growing up in Arizona. But, you know, I saw an interview with you a few months ago and you were specifically talking about the teenager in season one who had the overdose, and then he stuck around for many episodes. And so I wanted to ask you, you know, from your perspective as an emergency medicine doctor, someone who sees the Pit as a way to bring PSAs to life and enact some change through television, how do you personally choose, you know, healthcare issues to get in the show?

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Yeah, it's a great question. And I have to go back to saying that the medicine never comes first. The dramatic needs of the character come first. But by being current and accurate with our medicine as a side effect, people learn, not only the public, but also professional audiences learn. I can give you an example of each. We've had. We had someone from Hawaii post online that they made the diagnosis of the first pediatric case of measles in Hawaii based on what they saw on the Pit. We had another social media post by somebody who recognized methemoglobinemia because of the blue patient in episode 14 and 15. And in terms of the public, more interest in organ donation, more interest in, in advanced directives. And, and the, the one example that I'll probably get emotional at was a social media post by a doctor who was working at 2am, very busy night shift and a 90 something year old woman came in with a massive heart attack, not doing well, going, going downhill in terms of revital signs. And the doctor knew that the patient didn't have an advanced directive and was like, oh boy. And you know, when you're single coverage and taking care of 15 other patients at once, that's a huge burden. So this doctor walks into the room and says, we really need to talk about the plan for your mom. And the family interrupted and said, you know, doctor, we've been watching the Pit and we've seen the futility of aggressive treatment in a patient like my mom. And we've seen how it just causes suffering. And so we had a discussion and we decided that if that ever came to be, that we would want comfort measures only. So within a minute, within a minute, this family from watching the Pit had this remarkable and very important decision made because they had seen that. So that was a wonderful moment to read that.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

That's incredible. It's beyond television now. It's enacting change. It's raising awareness.

[Hunter Harris]

I want to ask for you, what is the most rewarding part of making a show like this and having this impact on people's lives?

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Well, I think that's it. We try to be great storytellers. We try to have great dramatic storylines, interesting characters who go through a journey in Season one, everyone was blank canvas, and you got to learn who these people are. And that was wonderful. But now, to keep people engaged, new things have to happen. Certainly Langdon is back from 10 months of rehab, and that is his journey and his conflict with Robbie, which is just starting to be touched upon. You know, Robbie wants him a triage. Robbie doesn't trust him to be back in the. In the big ER dealing with the most complex patients. But for me, you know, the most rewarding part is telling great stories. And then, like I said, the side effect, because we're so current and so accurate that people are learning. People are learning and professionals are learning, and some individuals may be inspired to pursue a career in healthcare. And that's kind of how this whole show started. Noah Wiley received tons of messages during COVID from people saying, we are hurting, we are hurting, and we need someone to inspire us. And in doing this show, we've had many, many, many messages from people. We had one from a parent of a 14 year old who binge watched the show and said, I'm going into a career in emergency medicine.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Now.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

This is what I want to do.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Victory.

[Noah Wylie]

Wow.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

That's awesome.

[Hunter Harris]

Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining us. This was such a lovely time.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Joe, it was an honor. Thank you. I wish we had three more hours to talk.

[Dr. Joe Sachs]

Absolutely. It's a pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you.

[Hunter Harris]

Let's do some real talk. Let's take a dilemma that happens on the show, and I want your quick and dirty. What you would have done in that scenario to get the patient's heart beating again? Would you have gone with Dr. Alhashmi or Dr. Ravi?

[Dr. Alok Patel]

Like, if that was the scenario and we were in on a deserted island or something, I would be like, which one of you has done this before? But if not, I am calling a cardiothoracic surgeon. I'm calling a trauma surgeon. I'm calling people because you usually are not opening up chests and doing this in the ER without, like, the surgical cavalry in there.

[Hunter Harris]

Okay.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

This procedure, the hilar twist, which I've seen in literature called the hilum flip. High lum twist. Hilar flip. One of my friends who's a trauma surgeon calls it a hilar twist. Regardless, this thing's pretty hardcore. You need to have someone in there who's done this before, maybe not a bunch of interns in Residents. And like, one surgeon, I have to.

[Hunter Harris]

Say, I prefer hilar twist. It sounds like a dance to the.

[Noah Wylie]

Twist, the high lar twist.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

And that's it for today's episode of the Pitt Podcast. You can catch us right here every Thursday after each episode drops. Watch us on HBO Max or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[Hunter Harris]

The Pitt Podcast is a production of HBO Max in collaboration with prx. The executive producer of PRX is Jocelyn Gonzalez, our Managing producer is Courtney Florentine, our editor is Lucy Perkins and our video producer and editor is Anthony Anthony Q Artists with Assistant editor Damon Durrell Hinson. The show is engineered by Tommy Bazarian. Our production managers are Ebon Ochoa and Tony Carlson.

[Dr. Alok Patel]

The Executive Producer of HBO Podcasts is Michael Gluckstadt, the Senior Producer is Allison Cohen, sirocac and the Associate Producer is Erin Kelly. I'm Alok Patel.

[Hunter Harris]

And I'm Hunter Harris. We'll see you next week in the picture.

[Commercial Narrator]

The Volvo XC90 is equipped with seven seat versatility, Google built in and advanced safety features for all your precious Cargo. The Volvo XC90 designed for life. Visit volvocars.com us to learn more. Google is a trademark of Google LLC.