Television

In 2010, I received a cold call from a TV writer asking for help on a pilot. I had just started working as an academic neurosurgeon at Duke University and was very open to new opportunities. I had never thought about working in TV, but I realized that combining my knowledge of medicine and science with my interest in storytelling was a great fit. I helped on this pilot and was asked to help on other shows and projects. One show led to another, and I established my role as a medical consultant. Soon I realized I could do more than just fact checking and bringing the writers’ stories into a realistic realm — I could craft and pitch original stories as well. I did not just write about interesting diagnoses, presentations, and treatments, but developed full-fledged stories around characters with compelling challenges and ethical and medical dilemmas. Writers valued my pitches and my stories began to find a place on many shows. Eventually, I was given the opportunity to get the “story by” for an entire episode. Most of my work pitching stories, developing stories with writers, and giving notes on outlines and scripts is done outside of the writers’ room — by Zoom, phone, and email. Occasionally I go onset and help with the production, where I try to really engage with the whole process from writing to the shoot. As I became more comfortable assisting on set, I realized it would be very natural to act like a doctor and appear on air. I started in the background of an OR scene in an important episode and gradually worked up to getting lines and playing slightly bigger roles in very dramatic scenes. Over eleven years, I went from Dr. Gottfried, a neurosurgeon, to also being Dr. Gottfried, a TV neurosurgeon.