Duke Cerebral Neurosurgeon now divides his time between the real hospital and television.
Dr. Oren Gottfried has been a medical consultant for many years on NBC’s hit show, Chicago Med. Now he also voices his AI medical robot on the show.
Dr. Gottfried enjoys working with patients at Duke Health, but when he’s at home or traveling, he often reviews scripts for medical accuracy on NBC’s hit medical drama.
“It’s very exciting to be able to support medical realities with these highly dramatic stories,” he says.
Recently, he pitched the idea to the show where he currently works as a voice actor.
“My current role is a machine called OR.20,” he says.
Robots are nothing new in the modern medical environment, but aspects of the character played by Dr. Gottfried are still pure science fiction.
“I serve as a surgical assistant. It’s my voice. I coach surgeons. They ask me questions. I help them like an extra surgeon in the room.” said Gottfried about the new character.
The TV robot also has sensors to monitor how the surgeon is feeling. Gottfried enjoys the dramatic moments he helped create, but sometimes, he says, they’re too real even for him.
“As a consultant, I can think of scenarios that I wouldn’t have to go through. Many times I created complex problems that I wouldn’t want to see in real life,” he says.
Dr. Gottfried says the technology in NBC’s new “artificial intelligence” robot character isn’t too far off from real life.
Episodes of “Chicago Med” air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.
