Resident Playbook

Presentation

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Overview

Synopsis

Following the hit drama Hospital Playlist, the sequel follows the lives and friendships of professors, residents, nurses and medical personnel at Jongno Yulje Medical Center. Among them, you have first year OBGYN resident Oh Yi Young, Pyo Nam Kyung, Kim Sa Bi and Uhm Jae Il.

My Opinion (No Spoiler)

I could watch 40 seasons of that show, 10,000 episodes of their adventures, and I would never get bored. This sequel of Hospital Playlist has kept the essence of the original show making it emotional, funny, lighthearted, serious, warm and sad at the same time. The new quartet is super endearing. Each character has his own difficulties from the beginning, but learns and grows through his first year residency. I think their personalities are a perfect match, they compensate each other’s flaws, but also highlight each other’s qualities. The OBGYN stories are moving, educational for characters and viewers, and compelling. Romance is also there, though I would’ve loved to see more for others (Sa Bi, Jae Il, Nam Kyung). However, I giggling like a kid, so it means that the show succeeded. Nonetheless, my favorite part of the show is the cameos. I was so pleased to see characters from Hospital Playlist make an appearance. In each episode we got lucky enough to see someone new, and the ending just hints at a second season, which I truly hope we will get. Don’t miss out on this gem!

Analysis

• The new quartet
  Oh Yi Young, passion awaken
  Uhm Jae Il, not so invisible
  Kim Sa Bi, the empathetic robot
  Pyo Nam Kyung, not so superficial
• The staff
  Ku Do Won, the perfect mentor
  The residents/doctors
  The professors
  Nurses, anesthesiologists and others
• The cases
  Knowledge from the cases
• Life lessons
  As a doctor
  As a person
• Romances
• Cameos
• Ending
  

The new quartet: In this prequel, we are being introduced to new characters, four residents at Yulje Medical Center. In each episode, we get to follow them, as they navigate cases, grow alongside patients and learn how to become good doctors. I really loved this new quartet because each member brought something new and different to the table.

Oh Yi Young, passion awaken: At the beginning of the drama, Oh Yi Young (Go Yoon Jung) has quit her residency and doesn’t intend to work at a hospital ever again. She lacks passion and motivation for her work. However, her family’s bankruptcy and million-won debt force her to apply as a first-year resident to Jongno Yulje Medical Center. Oh Yi Young has a great evolution in the show. When she starts her residency, her work is a burden that she only does for financial reasons. She’s also emotionally distant with her patients, laid-back and nonchalant, and sees her job as an office work. She’s forgotten the reason why she wanted to be a doctor in the first place. But in reality, Yi Young ran away after a terrible experience in her previous hospital. She got disgusted by the environment and couldn’t stand it anymore. After that, she distanced herself from her job to avoid getting hurt again. Nonetheless, Yi Young’s fiery passion for medicine is reignited at Yulje. Her professors, colleagues and even patients make her rekindle with her long-lost love for this field. Professor Seo Jung Min (Lee Bong Ryun) sees her potential and pushes her in every possible way. The efforts displayed by her fellow peers motivate her to reach their level. Her seniors’ teaching makes her want to support them. Even her patients’ stories remind her that she’s a warm, skilled and diligent doctor. Oh Yi Young also has the mental strength to survive in the field and go far. She’s fierce and straightforward whether it’d be in love or at work. She goes from a passive, resigned, and aloof resident to a determined, passionate, and proactive doctor who wishes to thrive and grow.

Uhm Jae Il, not so invisible: Uhm Jae Il (Kang You Seok) is my favorite character of the drama. He’s a beautiful person who’s clearly meant to work with others. He’s sociable, energetic, compassionate, empathetic, friendly, and kind. His butterfly-like personality makes him beloved by staff members and patients. His past as a former idol is also an excellent ice-breaker and emphasizes his qualities as a people-oriented person. However, he still needs to work on his hard skills. Unlike Yi Young who’s born with talent or Sa Bi who’s book-smart, studying is not his forte. He makes many mistakes and thus doesn’t trust his judgment. This creates more workload for others, especially his seniors, while making him unreliable. Behind his positive attitude and smiles, Uhm Jae Il actually hides his fear of being useless and invisible. Even at the beginning, he’s about to quit because no one gives him tasks or asks for his help. Though this was done out of consideration by her senior – she didn’t want to scare him away with a heavy workload – this had the opposite impact on him. Nevertheless, Uhm Jae Il grows as a doctor throughout his first-year residency. He may not be smart or skilled, but he’s patient and resilient. He works twice as hard as others, training his eyes to the ultrasound and memorizing cases from his books. At the end of the show, he’s empowered by his team to be more confident, trust himself and he even becomes Professor Jo Joon Mo’s (Lee Hyun Kyun) favorite by showcasing his desire to improve patients’ stay at the hospital. In the end, he goes from an invisible junior to an indispensable resident.

Kim Sa Bi, the empathetic robot: Kim Sa Bi’s (Han Ye Ji) transformation is both comedic and cute. She starts her journey as a robotic doctor. She’s a bookworm who’s only interested in manuals and studies. Contrary to Jae Il, her hard skills are top-notch. She has an excellent memory and wows many professors with her ability to anticipate tasks. Conversely, she shows no empathy towards patients. In fact, she doesn’t even know how to console people because she’s never learned it in her books. This obviously creates tensions in situations where diplomacy is required. However, she gradually becomes more humane. She learns how to get closer to patients and is more empathetic towards others (staff or patients). In the end, Sa Bi has always been well-intended, but she’s never had the tools to express her true feelings before. Her first-year residency enables her to acquire this new set of tools and to use them in the right setting. To be honest, Kim Sa Bi is so cute. She looked like a baby to whom you need to teach everything when it comes to relationships with people. She’s never really had friends nor was she interested in that. However, she quickly realizes that you need teamwork, the trust and support of your colleagues if you want to succeed as a doctor. At the end of the day, Kim Sa Bi makes three friends (the other residents) and even has a love interest.

Pyo Nam Kyung, not so superficial: Pyo Nam Kyung (Shin Si Ah) is the most difficult character to analyze. What she lacks is not clear from the get-go and her development is more subtle. But I would still stay that Nam Kyung is more focused on her life than on her work. She wants to finish on the dot, go out on dates, enjoy her life outside rather than at the hospital. Moreover, she doesn’t consider nurses as equals to doctors – even belittles their work – and cares more about her comfort over her patients’. That’s visible when she’s asked to take care of a religious woman who is exhaustingly demanding. Pyo Nam Kyung is irritated because her patient is making her life harder. She needs to work more for this unlikable patient. However, the resident realizes that her patients are also people. They are sometimes mean, cold, and irritated because they are sick. Treating them will not improve their health right away. So, she also needs to think about their state of mind. Pyo Nam Kyung learns to respect others along the way. She turns less superficial, more thoughtful and helpful. For example, she used to dump her cases on others to go on dates, but is now willing to take over her peers’ workload. She grows closer to others and finally understands that being a good doctor also comes with sacrifices. You can’t have it your way all the time, whether it’s at work or in love. Indeed, when she breaks up with her boyfriend for the millionth time, she expects him to come back to her as he’s always done. But this time, it’s different. By the end, Pyo Nam Kyung has changed her ways and is becoming an actual doctor.

The staff: Our wonderful quartet of residents is well-surrounded by an amazing staff. I really loved to see how they shed light on all professions (from nurses to professors) who are all indispensable to the well-being of patients.

Ku Do Won, the perfect mentor: As the head of residents, Ku Do Won (Jung Joon Won) their direct line of report. Not going to lie, I adored this character. He’s calm, patient, benevolent, and kind. He’s extremely good at teaching and full of wisdom. At work, he’s the perfect mentor. He knows when to be mad, when to reprimand, but also when to comfort his juniors. It’s also quite obvious that he’s a skilled doctor, considering how well he handles his patients. Moreover, his life and medical advice are always on point. He even knows how to play the ‘political’ game though he suffers from it at times. That’s what happens with Myung Eun Won (Ki Hye Jin) who asks for his collaboration on a paper. She assures him that his name will be mentioned as co-author and lets him do all the work, only to show off as the only writer of the research paper. Oh Yi Young learns about it and gets mad in his place. But Ku Do Won refuses to risk his good relationship to get back what is rightfully his.

The residents/doctors: There are 3 different types of doctors worth mentioning. The first type is embodied by Ki Eun Mi (Lee Do Hye). People call her the Mother Theresa of the hospital because she’s always nice and never gets mad. Even when first-year residents mess up, she doesn’t reproach them anything. Instead, she shows them what they did wrong and encourages them to do better. However, this type of behaviors can sometimes boomerang, as she’s the one blamed by her superiors. Behind her mask of kindness, Ki Eun Mi is a human being who feels shame and pain. She only contains herself for the sake of others.
The second type is represented by Cha Da Hye (Hong Na Hyun). Contrary to Eun Mi, she’s impulsive with a short fuse. She’d scream if her resident screws up. She may look hard, but she’s quite soft deep down. She sometimes regrets her emotional reactions and is willing to apologize if she’s in the wrong. The interesting part with these two characters is that although they teach first-year residents, they are also still learning. When Sa Bi comes to Da Hye with millions of questions, she tells her to go look for the answers in books. That’s not because she refuses to teach her, but more because she doesn’t know the answer herself. I really appreciated seeing a bit more complexity of what it is to be a doctor. You may be more experienced and have already committed mistakes, you never cease to learn and grow as a professional and as an individual. Even Ku Do Won and the professors are still trying to find out what kind of doctor they want to be.
The last type is showcased by Myung Eun Won. She displays the worst there can be in a doctor. She’s fake and hypocritical. If there are successes, she will promote them as her own; but if there are failures, she’ll blame it on others even if it’s her fault. She doesn’t play in team, doesn’t protect her peers, she’s competitive and steals others’ hard work. Her colleagues hate her and working with her. The good part in the show is that this bad behavior is not rewarded. At the end, professors pick someone more reliable, trustworthy and appreciated to be promoted.

The professors: Just like residents, professors have very different profiles. Each of them has its teaching method and peculiar character. The 2 gynecologists (Jo Joon Mo and Ryu Jae Hwi) and 2 obstetricians (Seo Jung Min and Kong Gi Sun) allow us to discover how these two fields can clash or perfectly complement one another. FYI obstetrics focuses on pregnant women, while gynecology has to do the female reproductive system (aka cancer, cysts,…). First, there is Seo Jung Min, a cold but fiery brilliant professor. She sees the potential of her students and pushes them to make them grow. That’s what she does with Oh Yi Young for instance. Her rival and good friend is Professor Kong Gi Sun (Son Ji Yoon). She cares a lot about her image and reputation, especially in front of patients. She’s quick to judge and criticize, and doesn’t hesitate to put others in a tough spot. That’s what happens when she fights against Seo Jung Min to get her patients into the OR first by pushing residents. Jo Joon Mo has a terrible personality. He screams constantly at his residents if they make even the smallest mistake. He’s never satisfied with their work and seems to have forgotten they are only training doctors. His role is not to blame and discourage them, but to teach them. His colleague, Ryu Jae Hwi (Lee Chang Hoon), is his polar opposite. He’s soft, kind, and helpful. He stands up for his juniors and teaches them using soft power. He’s passionate about his field and truly wants to convey it to others. I think this makes a great pool of professors for our residents to learn and grow.

Nurses, anesthesiologists, and others: It’s a fact, doctors can’t operate without nurses and all the teams in the background who work hard to make patients have a smooth journey at the hospital. Nurses may not be as knowledgeable as doctors when it comes to medicine, but they have first-hand experience with patients. They can tell whether this particular patient feels good today or not because they spend days caring for them. This knowledge is precious to doctors and should never be neglected. Nurses are also residents’ best supporters who’ve witnessed residents make the same mistakes over and over again. I loved seeing how Pyo Nam Kyung regrets her decision when she starts mistreating the nurses. She realizes that there’s not much she can do without their help. Reversely, nurses also need to learn how to work in tandem with doctors, while protecting themselves. They are indeed easy to blame when problems arise, so they should cover themselves. Finally, there are doctors and anesthesiologists worth mentioning, as they have a role to play in the good functioning of the hospital. If you’re missing an anesthesiologist, you can’t operate. If another doctor is monopolizing an OR, it means you can’t do surgeries. If you don’t trust ER doctors with the first diagnosis of the patients, then you’ll lose a lot of time rushing there every day, etc… All of that to say that hospitals are like big functioning bodies in which all limbs, veins, arteries, and organs have to work together as one. This is also a lesson that residents get to learn on the spot. Everyone has his role to play and one can’t remain on his own.

The cases: I will not deep dive into each and every case of the drama. This would make this review never-ending otherwise. However, I will say that all of them brought its fair share of warmth and sadness. Some cases were more serious than others, thus more heartbreaking (I’m thinking about Pyo Nam Kyung’s first patient). Others are easily resolved with a surgery or simply a birth, like the 3 births happening on New Year’s Eve. All in all, these cases are good practice for the quartet to learn about medicine, work on their weaknesses as doctors, improve their skills and knowledge, while we get to learn more about gynecology and obstetrics. In general, I really like medical dramas because they shed light on certain conditions, sicknesses, or situations that could happen to any of us. Hospital Playlist and Resident Playbook are even better because they make their stories credible and realistic. You can easily identify with patients and empathize with them. All of that to say that I went through a roller coaster of emotions. I cried, laughed, was happy and devastated while watching the show. It’s as raw as life can be; it depicts it beautifully without sugarcoating the dark side of it.

Knowledge from the cases: Cases teach you that it’s important to tell the truth to a patient, even if their family is against it. If you put yourself in their shoes, I’m pretty sure you would not want to receive treatment or surgery without fully knowing why, right? The truth may hurt sometimes, but you can’t hide it away forever. As the drama focuses essentially on pregnancy, you also see a lot on the topic such as losing a child and the desire to have one despite infertility (IVF treatment in that case); still birth, C-section and vaginal birth; the death of a mother after delivery; the balance between work and pregnancy; having a pregnant patient who doesn’t speak the same language during delivery, etc… All of that is enough information to make you understand that pregnancy today is still risky and can come with terrible consequences, despite the great advancements we’ve made in medicine. Parenthood is not a walk in the park either, as a baby changes your life forever and forces you to review your priorities.

Life lessons: Considering that the show paints life as realistically as possible, there are therefore many great lessons to take away – and even apply in our daily routine.

As a doctor: I would quote the following 10 points as crucial life lessons when you’re a doctor:
1. Choosing a speciality, as it will determine your career for the rest of your life as a doctor.
2. The need to have a new batch of interns every year if you don’t want to be overloaded with work – pediatrics has this issue in the drama and struggles.
3. Resilience: You may not be able to rest as a doctor, you won’t have sufficient sleep, time to eat or even to shower at home, but for the sake of your patients, you need to learn how to stand strong and not give up, especially when you’re at the beginning of your career. In that situation, it’s even more important for seniors to pave the way for their juniors and make sure they accompany them, so they won’t quit right away.
4. Getting a second chance, like it’s the case for Oh Yi Young.
5. Being a role model and mentor especially to inspire younger generations.
6. Treat the staff properly: I’ll never repeat it enough, but doctors can’t do everything on their own. They need an army of brave soldiers to care for patients.
7. How difficult patients can be and how hard it is to care for everyone: Not all patients are all smiles and joyful, some don’t speak, others talk too much. As a doctor, it’s your duty to be able to give enough time and attention to each.
8. The impact a case can have on you: For example, the death of your first patient can devastate you.
9. Need to be adaptable: In this complicated environment, you need to switch from sadness to action very fast. Whilst on the job, you don’t have time to dwell on the past. You can only move forward and save your tears for later.
10. Rivalry between doctors: Sa Bi and Yi Young, Yi Young and Nam Kyung to quote a few examples are perfect embodiments of this topic.

As a person: Resident Playbook portrays characters’ evolution not only as doctors, but also as people. Here are 3 lessons to remember:
1. Efforts pay off and practice makes perfect: Uhm Jae Il is the perfect example of that. I can’t count the number of ultrasounds he’s done in order to master it!
2. Be good towards others and you’ll be rewarded: And by others, it’s not just patients but also your colleagues. At the end of the drama, Chu Min Ah (Ahn Eun Jin) is selected to be the next professor over Myung Eun Won. This is the result of interviews with the staff who clearly didn’t stand behind Myung Eun Won. Her behavior had negative repercussions on her career, because others didn’t vouch for her.
3. Mentors are crucial in life: No matter the field, a good mentor will pave the way for you to advance your knowledge, skills and career.

Romances: There are two main romances in the show and one between Pyo Nam Kyung and Tak Gi On (Cha Kang Yoon) that only starts at the end. For that reason, I will only focus on the two others. The first one is between Oh Yi Young and Ku Do Won. The complexity here is that their lives are entangled in every possible way. They are colleagues, but Do Won is also her boss. He’s her brother-in-law’s brother, making him part of the family. And they also reside under the same roof, alongside Do Won’s brother and Yi Young’s sister. However, that doesn’t prevent Oh Yi Young from pursuing Do Won right from the start. He’s warm and comforting, she feels reassured in his presence. But he’s also dense and slow-witted when it comes to love. Thankfully, she’s straightforward and determined, so she confesses several times her feelings to him. Ku Do Won is stunned, refuses at first, but eventually gives in. I liked seeing how bold Yi Young was, when Do Won was more reserved. The second romance involves Uhm Jae Il and Kim Sa Bi. I’ll admit that these two were a surprise because they seem to have nothing in common. But the more you scratch the surface, the more you see that they are a perfect match. Jae Il has all the qualities that Sa Bi lacks, and vice-versa. He studies more thanks to her, while she becomes more humane in his presence. Jae Il falls first and has many attentions towards Sa Bi, while she used to be his fan when he was an idol and remembers everything he says. At the end, Kim Sa Bi is reluctant to start a relationship. She wants to focus on her career and needs more time to get to know Jae Il. However, these two caught my heart and I really hope we’ll get to see more of them together in the near future.

Cameos: Resident Playbook made a lot of references to Hospital Playlist through cameos. In each episode, we had a doctor from the previous series who’d appear and give us a bit of insights on his life. For instance, we learned that Kim Jun Wan (Jung Kyung Ho) got married, just like Chu Min Ah and Yang Seok Hyung (Kim Dae Myung). All the couples that have formed in the previous seasons are still together and going strong.

Ending: I really hope they will give us a second season. There are still so many loose ends: the romances (Sa Bi/Jae Il and Nam Kyung/Gi On) have not really started, Chu Min Ah has now joined the hospital as a professor, Yi Young and Do Won are dating but their family ignores it, etc… So please, give us a season 2!