Medical dramas such as the Emmy-nominated The Pitt are making just as many waves this year as crime dramas are, and I, for one, have been loving it. Over the years, medical shows have seen a big shift from mere procedurals to shows with more realistic and often-controversial perspectives, compelling fictional characters, and unique spins, including comedies!
7 Berlin ER
Release Date |
February 26, 2025 |
---|---|
Episodes |
8 |
Starring |
Haley Louise Jones, Slavko Popadic, Aram Tafreshian |
Status |
Unconfirmed |
After facing personal and professional turmoil in Munich, Dr. Parker (Haley Louise Jones) seeks a fresh start in Berlin. This Apple TV+ German-language series follows the talented but troubled doctor as she’s thrust into the chaotic environment of one of the busiest, most overcrowded emergency rooms in the city, where she faces intense cases, resistant colleagues, and her own inner demons.
Berlin ER is a graphic medical drama with an unsettling narrative arc that’s both engaging and endearing. Its revelation of realistic medical chaos helps draw attention to the interplay between a relentless pace and methodical control while mirroring the dysfunction within the hospital.
Don’t be deterred because it’s in German. Berlin ER is available dubbed in English and is available with closed captions.

Apple TV+
Intense ER drama from Germany, Berlin ER is a gritty and realistic watch.
6 Doc
Release Date |
January 7, 2025 |
---|---|
Episodes |
10 |
Starring |
Molly Parker, Scott Wolf, Felicity Huffman, Omar Metwally |
Status |
Ongoing |
If you’re looking for a medical drama with a new angle outside of emergency room chaos, Doc is your show.
Dr. Amy Larsen (Molly Parker) is the brilliant but hard-charging Chief of Internal Medicine at Minneapolis’s fictional Westside Hospital. After a bad car accident leaves her with a traumatic brain injury, she loses the last eight years of her memory, including significant events like the death of her son and a divorce.
In addition to navigating an unfamiliar world and having to rebuild her life, Dr. Larsen also has to contend with the medical practice she struggles to remember. Despite her memory loss, she is determined to return to work as an intern.
Doc is inspired by the true story of an Italian doctor who also experienced a similar form of memory loss after a car accident.
Molly Parker stars in this mind-bender of a hospital drama about a doctor who must start over as an intern after suffering from amnesia.
5 Pulse
Release Date |
April 3, 2025 |
---|---|
Episodes |
10 |
Starring |
Willa Fitzgerald, Colin Woodell, Jack Bannon, Daniela Nieves |
Status |
Unconfirmed |
Netflix took its shot with its first medical procedural this year, and while it leans a little more on the soapy side, it makes for an ideal Netflix weekend binge.
Pulse follows Dr. Danielle “Danny” Simms (Willa Fitzgerald), a third-year resident, as she’s unexpectedly promoted to Chief Resident at Miami’s Maguire Hospital after the former Chief, Dr. Xander Phillips (Colin Woodell), is suspended. What makes this situation awkward is that the two had a secret relationship, and they must now find a way to work together without letting the cat out of the bag.
Oh yes, and all of this is taking place as a major hurricane barrels straight for the southern tip of Florida. While Danny and Xander’s dramatic connection is the nucleus of our show, Pulse also focuses on real people working together to navigate their responsibilities, relationships, and cases in a pressure cooker.
Pulse follows young third-year resident Danielle Simms after she is unexpectedly made Chief Resident at a Florida hospital.
4 St. Denis Medical
Release Date |
November 12, 2024 |
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Episodes |
18 |
Starring |
Wendi McLendon-Covey, David Alan Grier, Allison Tolman |
Status |
Ongoing |
This hilarious mockumentary medical show provides just as much drama as it does laughs, and it's a ripe half-hour comedy to stream for a quick laugh.
St. Denis Medical spotlights the overworked doctors and nurses at a hospital in the fictional town of Merrick, Oregon, where they try their best to treat patients and keep their sanity in check. Devoted nurse Alex (Allison Tolman) has just been promoted to emergency room Supervising Nurse and must now contend with an eclectic staff, each with their own attitude.
Meanwhile, the facility’s executive director, Joyce (Wendi McLendon-Covey), works to turn the hospital into an international medical destination while Dr. Ron (David Alan Grier) is 100% over it all. Together, they must all work around Dr. Bruce (Josh Lawson), who’s a talented but competitive, insecure, arrogant surgeon with a god complex.
There’s no shortage of laughter and feel-good fun in St. Denis Medical. Season 2 returns this fall!
From the folks behind Superstore, St. Denis Medical is pout to prove that laughter (and stupidity) is the best medicine.
3 The Pitt
Release Date |
January 9, 2025 |
---|---|
Episodes |
15 |
Starring |
Noah Wyle, Taylor Dearden, Shawn Hatosy, Isa Briones |
Status |
Ongoing |
In my opinion, The Pitt is the absolute best medical drama streaming in 2025, and it’s among the top three to date. It was also HBO Max’s most-watched original title globally, and has been nominated for 13 Primetime Emmys.
The Pitt provides a realistic look at the functioning of an emergency room and the doctors and nurses who pull off incredible feats there, as well as the hospital administrators who run it. It examines the high-stakes intensity and challenges front-line workers face today, as seen from their perspective.
Over the course of 15, one-hour episodes, we follow senior attending physician Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch (Noah Wyle) and his team in a real-time, single shift at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. The place is severely underfunded and understaffed—a common occurrence.
As Robby leads his staff through a shift from hell, he’s also battling his own secret trauma and post-traumatic stress from the loss of his mentor during the insanity of the COVID pandemic. It’s impressive to see him on the verge of a nervous breakdown, keeping it together to do what he’s best at: saving lives.
Intense, emotional, fast-paced, and extremely well-written and performed, The Pitt makes you forget you’re watching a scripted work of fiction.
Don't miss the full first season of Max's most-watched original series, The Pitt.
2 The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call
Release Date |
January 24, 2025 |
---|---|
Episodes |
8 |
Starring |
Ju Ji-hoon, Jung Jae-kwang, Ha Young, Choo Young Woo |
Status |
Unconfirmed |
There’s something to be said about foreign medical dramas: They know how to bring the tension and trauma.
Korea has few skilled trauma surgeons and even fewer who do risky, rebellious things like ride a motorcycle into an active war zone to deliver a backpack full of blood and supplies to those in need. Enter war-seasoned surgeon and trauma god Baek Kang-hyeok (Ju Ji-hoon).
The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call follows Kang-hyeok as he’s hired to fix a struggling trauma unit inside a major university hospital. He isn’t well-received, due to his blunt attitude and unconventional methods, but that’s expected, given that most of the doctors at Hankuk National University have had little to no trauma training—horrifying, I know.
The series highlights the necessity of quick, effective trauma care and features realistic cases, including those involving severe injuries and critical situations, while exploring the tension between the team’s desire to save lives and the hospital’s financial priorities.
The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call's eight fast-paced episodes will leave you wanting more of this intense Korean medical drama.
1 Watson
Release Date |
January 26, 2025 |
---|---|
Episodes |
13 |
Starring |
Morris Chestnut, Randall Park, Eve Harlow, Peter Mark Kendall |
Status |
Ongoing |
Morris Chestnut stars as Dr. John Watson—yes, that Watson. This Paramount+ medical drama picks up six months after the death of Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty (Randall Park).
Watson follows Chestnut as he resumes his medical career by opening the Holmes Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare disorders, he only sees patients with strange, unidentifiable issues. However, when evidence surfaces indicating that Moriarty is still alive, Watson knows he must face his past and write a new chapter of this fascinating story with the one person he despises.
The show’s foundation is Watson’s investigative spine, which serves as a modern version of one of history’s greatest detectives as he redirects his attention from solving crimes to solving medical mysteries.
Morris Chestnut stars as Dr. John Watson in this modern take on the Sherlock Holmes character.
Once you finish these unique, wave-making medical dramas of 2025, blast into the past and explore classic medical hits like ER, Grey's Anatomy, and House, or see what gritty crime dramas to watch that are making waves this year, too.