With an ensemble cast of prominent actors from the K-drama industry, Dr Romantic is one of the best-rated TV shows in South Korea.
The show follows the story of Dr Kim Sa-bu (also known as Teacher Kim) who works at the Doldam Emergency Hospital located on the outskirts of Seoul. The hospital operates on Teacher Kim’s philosophy of putting patients’ lives before everything else.
If you are someone who has finished watching all three seasons, here are some TV show alternatives that you can watch as everyone waits for the show to be renewed!
Hospital Playlist
Similarities: Ensemble Cast, Romance, Comedy, Medical Drama
Hospital Playlist follows the lives of five doctors in their forties. A hospital is a place known as the microcosm of life, where someone is born and another’s life meets its ending. These five doctors work at the Yulje Medical Centre and first became friends during medical school in 1999.
The show narrates stories of people going through their days at the hospital that are seemingly ordinary but actually special.
Doctor Cha
Similarities: Drama, Comedy, Medical Drama
The show follows the story of Cha Jung-sook, a doctor who is married to Seo In-ho, a man who works as a chief surgeon at a university hospital. In-ho has a strict, sensitive, and thoroughgoing personality.
After giving up her career during her medical resident years, Jung-sook became a full-time housewife for 20 years. Now, Jung-sook decides to restart her medical residency course, but bites off more than she can chew.
Doctor Stranger
Similarities: Romance, Medical Drama
The show follows the story of Park Hoon, who, along with his father, was kidnapped by North Koreans. In North Korea, he was trained to become a doctor by his father who was already a doctor. Park Hoon learns to be a genius heart surgeon and then flees to South Korea.
There, he begins to work as a doctor in South Korea’s top hospital Myeongwoo University Hospital, but he feels like a complete outsider.
Grey’s Anatomy
Similarities: Ensemble Cast, Romance, Medical Drama
This American prime-time medical and romantic drama follows the life of Meredith Grey, an aspiring surgeon and daughter of one of the best surgeons, Dr Ellis Grey. Throughout the series, Meredith goes through a series of professional and personal challenges along with fellow surgeons at Seattle Grace Hospital.
The Good Doctor
Similarities: Medical Drama, Gifted Doctor
This American TV show follows the life of Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome. Shaun relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital surgical unit. Alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the scepticism of his colleagues.
Kill Me Heal Me
Similarities: Medical Drama, Romance, Comedy
This psychological comedy K-drama follows the story of Cha Do-hyeon, who suffers from memory loss and dissociation after a traumatic childhood experience. Due to his dissociation, Do-hyeon has created seven distinct personalities in his head. Wanting to regain control over his life, he asks Oh Ri-jin, a first-year psychiatric resident, to help him, but she eventually falls in love with one of his personalities. Ri-jin’s twin brother, Oh Ri-on, is a famous mystery novelist who investigates Do-hyeon and his family.
The Mindy Project
Similarities: Romance, Comedy
The American romantic comedy, The Mindy Project stars Mindy Kaling, the maker of Never Have I Ever. The Mindy Project follows the story of an obstetrician/gynaecologist called Mindy Lahiri (played by Mindy Kaling) as she tries to balance her personal and professional life surrounded by quirky co-workers in a small medical practice in New York City.
Dill Mill Gaye
Similarities: Medical Drama, Romance
This Indian daily soap follows the lives of surgical interns and resident doctors of Sanjeevani Hospital and how these doctors deal with the pressures of their profession. It also looks at the drama in their personal and romantic lives, as well as interpersonal relationships with fellow doctors.
The show initially starts off with interns – Dr Anjali Gupta, Dr Armaan Malik, Dr Riddhima Gupta, Dr Atul Joshi, and Dr Sapna Shah who enter Sanjeevani Hospital for their respective medical residency. Dr Shashank Gupta is the head of the hospital and the father of Anjali and Riddhima.
Scrubs
Similarities: Medical Drama, Comedy
Scrubs is a medical-themed American television comedy that aired on NBC network for seven seasons. The show is set in the fictitious Sacred Heart Hospital and follows the professional life of Dr John “JD” Dorian, a young doctor struggling to move his medical career forward as he deals with the hospital’s eccentric staff, unpredictable patients, and absurd situations.
ER
Similarities: Medical Drama, Emergency Room Cases, Trauma Centre
This American medical drama aired on NBC from 1994 to 2009, created by best-selling novelist Michael Crichton and producer John Wells was one of the highest-rated programs on television. ER centred on the emergency room doctors, nurses, and staff of County General Hospital, a fictional level-one trauma centre in Chicago. Known for its intensity, the series examined the fierce challenges and life-and-death decisions the staff faced on a daily basis in their busy metropolitan facility.
There we have it, our list of the 10 TV show alternatives to the K-drama, Dr Romantic!
What do you think about our picks? Did your favourite make the list? Were there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!