Private Practice, Season Two

Private Practice is about the lives of five doctors and one staff member: Addison, the neonatal surgeon; Cooper, the pediatrician; Violet, the psychiatrist; Pete, the alterative-medical practitioner; Naomi the fertility specialist; Sam, the author and doctor (though I’ve yet to figure out what he actually specializes in, I believe it is general medicine); and Dell, the receptionist and mid-wife in training—all of whom are extremely dysfunctional.

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They are as wishy-washy about the rights and wrongs of their medical ethics as they are about their personal relationships. One minute they are preaching how wrong it is to this or that, and the next minute they are willing to bend the rules to fit their own personal agendas.

The show has had several incidents in which the staff has had to focus on medical ethics, such as whether or not to help a fellow doctor commit suicide after being diagnosed with an illness that would cause a slow and agonizing death, whether or not to fire one of the staff after a medical mishap places the wrong embryo in the wrong mother, whether or not to turn in a father who has kidnapped his own son after the authorities wouldn’t do anything about the abusive step-father, and whether or not to turn in a confused teacher who had sex with one of her teenage students. And though they knew clearly what the “right thing” to do was, they often leaned towards the “wrong thing” causing huge moral and ethical dilemmas.



To be honest, I’m not quite sure what to think of Private Practice. The show focuses more on the sexual relations of the doctors and their egos than on medicine or their practice, Oceanside Wellness Group. And for me, that gets old really fast!

If I had my way, the show would focus more on why the doctors started the practice than on their personal lives. Because the idea of a medical practice that wants to bring back the “small town doctor” and cares more about the patient’s well-being and less on money matters, more on caring for the “whole body” and less on simply trying to fix the “symptoms” is such a breathtaking idea—and one that I would hope would catch on in real life.

And yet, I watched every episode!



The cliffhanger…oh, the cliffhanger! It just blew me away. I was mortified when the pregnant psychiatrist, knowing her patient was unstable, would even consider opening the door without first checking to see who it was, and then stand so calmly discussing why she was there. And teary-eyed and freaked out when the patient commenced to “cut out” the baby! And it’s because of the cliffhanger, and the chemistry of the actors, that I will give Private Practice another chance to grow and find its groove.

Disclosure: I was given a sample to review. This is "my opinion" of the product. I was not paid to give a positive review.