ER Doctor Admits It Was 'Hard' Watching Dr. Robby in “The Pitt ”Season 2: 'You Can See Yourself in That' (Exclusive)
ER Doctor Admits It Was 'Hard' Watching Dr. Robby in “The Pitt ”Season 2: 'You Can See Yourself in That' (Exclusive)
Meredith WilshereSat, April 25, 2026 at 11:59 AM UTC
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Dr. J Mack Slaughter, Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby in The PittCredit: J Mack Slaughter, Jr., M.D.; John Johnson/Max -
The most recent season of The Pitt highlighted burnout risk for medical professionals
When talking to PEOPLE, ER Dr. J Mack Slaughter shares that he's grateful for the visibility
Dr. Slaughter reflects on his own experience with burnout and how it impacted his emotions and patient care
The Pitt shows the good, bad, and the ugly of working in emergency medical care. Dr. J Mack Slaughter is grateful for the most recent season, highlighting an aspect that sometimes gets overlooked: healthcare professional burnout.
In the most recent season of The Pitt, a part of the storyline focuses on Dr. Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch, played by Noah Wyle, and his mental health as he grapples with providing care to others while refusing to acknowledge the care he needs for himself.
Dr. Slaughter, the Dallas-based ER doctor, shares that he is so glad "they are humanizing the physicians and the nurses."
Dr. J Mack SlaughterCredit: J Mack Slaughter, Jr., M.D.
"When I trained in the early 2010s, I was around all these people, I looked up to them, I wanted to be like them one day. They were cold. My third year resident, I remember knowing him in med school, and seeing him as a resident, and he had this different look in his eye, and I didn't really know what it was, but after a couple of years, I started to get it," Dr. Slaughter shares.
"One of my attendings and I came up with a name for it. It was a stare. There's a process of hardening that takes place, and it can affect some people more than others," Dr. Slaughter says.
He admits that it "hit him hard."
"At one point during residency, I told a whole room of people that their loved one had passed away, and there was nothing that we could do to bring them back. The room was wailing. People were falling to the floor, screaming, and I just felt missing. I felt nothing in my cold, dead heart. It was just a moment for me when I was like, 'What happened to you, dude?' "
Dr. Slaughter admits that it took him "years" to work his way out of the level of burnout he was facing, and he was only a resident at the time.
"Fortunately, through the process of time and addressing the traumas I experienced and learning how to take care of myself, sleep more, eat right and work out after residency, I got my emotions back. I know that's ultimately what's going to make me a better husband and father. That's why I did this to begin with. I wanted to give back to my community and be successful, but also be a good dad, have a stable job and enjoy going to work. I am again, but it does come with a cost," Dr. Slaughter shares.
Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby on The PittCredit: Warrick Page/HBO Max
Watching the emotional scenes with Dr. Robby was "hard to see. "
"It's hard to see because you can see yourself in that. Fortunately, I was never really in a position of power, being able to punch down on people below me when I was in my state of burnout. Would I have lashed out at my coworkers, as he was doing, or really his trainees, as he was doing? I don't know. You want Dr. Robby to get help so badly, to the point of making you want that for him, because they made it really obvious that he needs it. He has to know that he needs it," Dr. Slaughter shares.
Dr. Robby's storyline mirrors some of the challenges medical professionals face.
"There historically has been a big stigma keeping physicians from seeking out help. Things are changing now, fortunately, but for decades on credentialing, when we would reapply to be able to treat our patients medically, we would have to check a box saying, 'Have you ever had any mental illness?' "
Dr. Slaughter says it depended on the state where the professional was practicing.
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"Some states were more invasive than others. Have you ever needed treatment for mental illness? Simply by asking that, there was enough to keep so many doctors and nurses from seeking help, which is just counterintuitive as hell. How are you gonna be able to take care of others if you can't take care of yourself?" Dr. Slaughter poses.
He shares that the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, named after the medical professional who took her own life, has been working to destigmatize medical professionals seeking help and remove barriers that exist in the system.
"Part of that is attributable to the fact that physicians are afraid to seek help because they're afraid that they'll lose their ability to do their job and to make income. We all have mortgages and families. They set out on a mission to remove those barriers, allowing physicians and nurses to seek mental health treatment," Dr. Slaughter shares.
However, there is still work to be done.
Dr. J Mack Slaughter and his sisterCredit: J Mack Slaughter, Jr., M.D.
"Now, we have to reverse the common thought in medical workers that if they do reach out for help, they'll get penalized, and they will lose their ability to care for their patients. As they remove those barriers to care, they have to convince physicians and nurses that their credentials won't be revoked or limited in any way. There's a level of awareness, too," Dr. Slaughter says.
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Watching The Pitt and seeing how other characters reacted to Dr. Robby's change over the few months since the audience last saw him made Dr. Slaughter think about the medical professional he had worked with, whom he wished he had said something to.
"It actually makes me regret not saying something to a colleague of mine. There was somebody I would call a consultant, and I would hear the burnout in her voice. We call it a flat affect. They're happy, they're sad, they're there. I regret not saying anything to her and asking, 'Are you okay? Is everything okay?' "
Dr. Slaughter noticed that her tone changed and she had a "different life to her."
"There was this personality in her again, and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, you seem like you're so much better. What changed?' She was like, 'What do you mean you noticed?' I was like, 'Yes, I noticed.' She said she was on call, lying on the ground in the hospital, motionless. Burnout can be so severe. It is important that we, as healthcare providers, point out to each other when we think we're fooling people, but we're not. You clearly have a problem, and you might not be able to get out of this on your own."
Visibility into these issues that medical professionals are facing makes it helpful to understand the work that needs to happen, and how it's impacting work and ultimately, patient care.
"It's really important to see some of the ways that Dr. Robby was lashing out at his trainees, and maybe it'll be a mirror to some individuals that are doing that and maybe displaying lots of the classic signs of burnout without even seeing the thousand patients stare in their own eyes," Dr. Slaughter shares.
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
