Medical

Kim Sa Bu, a famous surgeon who decided to give it all up and is now working in a run-down hospital in a small, remote town is joined by Kang Dong Joo (who desperately wants to achieve success after growing up in poverty) when he gets transferred to the hospital due to his lack of wealthy connections and Yoon Seo Jung who is still traumatized by watching her fiancee die in a car accident. Not only a medical drama, it also poses an important question: Who is a good doctor? Still, among the strong character development, difficult and often heartbreaking patient stories, hospital politics and philosophical questions the slow-burn romance somehow manages to thrive.

Why you should watch: the whole cast of the hospital is a family, and even more than medical issues, the drama often focuses on the human aspect - the actions and the consequences, the society as a whole. Even the sidestories are explored and the drama has a satisfying ending. It really is different than an other medical drama out there. - u/AlohaAlex

Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim: okay, honestly I love this drama mainly because it's the most "realistic" hospital kdrama I've seen (none of that doctors in stilettos and looking like models everywhere) and focuses on a mentorship relationship more than a relationship (with lots of good character development!!), but it does have it's fair share of a "slow burning" kind of romance. - u/MikasaMilkTea

Hands down the best medical drama I have watched as it perfectly balances everything - romance, comedy, and drama with a stellar cast. The story just flows from one episode to the next - never a dull moment.  - u/deviantrockstar

Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim 2 - former med school allies/frenemies Woojin, a talented surgeon but ostracized in the community, and Eunjae, a cardio surgeon who is struggling with anxiety attacks in the operating room, join Doldam Hospital under the guidance of Master Kim. this is a good watch if you want some action packed medical surgeries and fast paced plot line. the relationship between Master Kim and his junior doctors is very heartwarming as well.  - u/scatteredbrainxsushi

Hospital Playlist - This features YULJE Medical Center where the main five leads work. It focuses on their individual lives and struggles and how these fuve friends have each other’s backs. It also showcases many side stories which teach you lots of life lessons. Written and directed by the same people who made Reply 1988 and Prison Playbook this one delivers and is beautiful! - u/Fatooz

multiple seasons

A massive earthquake hits Seoul.  This drama follows the doctors of a specialist hospital that fall into two categories, those who are in it for the money/glory and those who actually want to provide care for their patients no matter what.

Why you should watch: Great plot, cast, and characters you will love and love to hate. It's very good and it made me love Kim Young Kwang. Also a good one for people who don't love your classic k-drama rom-coms as the romance is quite subtle. - u/sianiam

Descendants of the Sun - Not your typical hospital series, since a majority of it takes place in a foreign country. It's also half war related too, but I count it as a hospital drama as they deal with many unexpected and dramatic medical situations.  - u/Bren42

Combining action and medical drama, there are many harrowing and suspenseful sequences including an Ebola-like outbreak and having to choose between lives when two men are fatally injured.  - u/PumpkinSpice210

I found the theme interesting.  The juxtaposition of the medical, saving lives, and what we normally think of the army, taking lives.  It was good to see the viewpoint of the officers that they are saving Korean lives by going against enemies.  Also to see the two working together during a catastrophe.  - u/LcLou02

I personally liked Life on Netflix. Mainly because I love the writer's work since Secret Forest and Cho Seung Woo is the main lead. It's a great take on the bureaucracy aspect of healthcare and when it's entangled with profit-focused conglomerates. There's romance storyline too of course.  - u/Satchmoodle

Life: instead of the miracle doctor saving everybody, we get the actual questions that affect us all. How does organisation of the hospital change the doctors' behaviour, the price of medication etc. Siblings' love and how to treat people in wheelchair.  - u/the-other-otter

It's Okay That's Love - slightly different from your usual hospital dramas, it's all about Mental Health. They don't portray the medical conditions 100% correctly, but they confronted the life-issues each condition has relatively well. - u/UkEuropeEarth

The Doctors starring Park Shin Hye, Kim Rae Won, Lee Sung Kyung...is one of the loveliest medical rom-com with a very good storyline.  - u/Shibumon

honestly i was weary of it when i first started bc of the premise of the relationship, but honestly it’s a fairly good show plot-wise and it’s really intriguing medical-wise. i say give it a go  - u/fabwatercolors

Good Doctor - It is about an autistic doctor who is a genius, but has had a hard past and also a hard time dealing with people. But he is an awesome doctor. The drama is fairly light hearted, but does approach the topic of being judged for your outside versus the inside.  - u/Kordiana

I loved Good Doctor. The medical situations are really interesting and there is romance between the two leads.  - u/rosecoconut

Doctor Stranger is a medical thriller.  I enjoyed it. It had suspense, romance, and humor.

Young boy grows up in North Korea after he and his father are betrayed by a South Korean politician.  After his girlfriend and her family are arrested as traitors he is forced to work in a hellish hospital but he continues to search for his girlfriend.  He escapes to South Korea where he holds out hope that his GF is still alive, though everyone says she is dead.  He sees her doppelganger at a hospital.  To find out if it is really her or not, he agrees to work as a surgeon at the hospital.  He's young, brash, charismatic, and damaged.

There is the romance plot, a revenge plot, political scheming, and a ridiculous ongoing surgery competition to see who will perform an important surgery on the SK VP.

Personally, I thought this drama was a lot of fun.  The "morning after" scene where they are all waking up drunk at the lady doctor's home remains one of the funniest Kdrama moments ever for me.  On the darker end, the lead's anguish over the things he's done to survive and the desperation he still felt for finding his GF and living up to his father's belief in him were so tragic. - u/SpinThePickle

Cross - The main character who score the highest in the board exam but yet choose to sign up to be a prison doctor. - u/mys1n

Live Up To Your Name: A traditional doctor travels through time to present day and becomes entangled with a feisty modern-day doctor who is somewhat dismissive of his acupuncture abilities. However, as times goes on, they began to recognize in each the qualities that make both of them good doctors. Filled with hijinks and cute pigs, this drama is a must watch for the comedy.  - u/myweithisway

A Poem a Day focuses on the Physical Therapy department.  Also radiology.  But it's a light fluffy rom-com that happens to be set in a hospital. - u/LcLou02

Beautiful Mind is, I feel, one of the strongest medical dramas I've ever seen. The acting, especially by the male lead, is out of this world, crazy good, and I think the plot is unpredictable and engaging. You truly get to experience characters grow into better versions of themselves and form bonds that you truly want to invest in. And side-note, the medical knowledge in here is more accurate than a lot of other dramas, if that's important to you. Analyzing and learning the male lead's psyche is definitely enjoyable as he's portrayed as the 'emotionless genius,' which in the field of medicine, emotion and empathy is quite important. Thus, watching him navigate his way socially is one of the best parts of the show! - u/dianapharah

Doctor John: Does having a heartbeat equate to being alive? Is it better to be able to feel pain or to be unable to feel pain? And at what point, if there is one, is death better than being in physical agony? These are just some of the issues that this drama seeks to explore and portray without dictating a 'correct answer.' A moving portrayal that reminds us that despite all the splendor and shine of modern fancy medical equipment, a doctor remains a mere human trying to tackle some of humanity's undying questions and dilemmas.  - u/myweithisway

What’s nice about Doctor John is that it focuses on anesthesiology which is different to some medical dramas which focuses more on the operation parts (neurology, general surgery, etc.)  - u/amdbasilio

Kill me, Heal me centers around one patient and one psychiatrist. There’s another psychiatrist but the central story really involves the the female doc. The hospital is just an incidental locale in this one.  - u/MeaChip

Emergency Couple - A funny romcom about a divorced couple that finds themselves thrust back into each others lives and are forced to figure out what happened between them, while also navigating their work as interns to become doctors. - u/Kordiana

Golden time - This drama consist of different medical case. From crush injuries to C-section. It talks about the lead character working in the emergency department as a intern. - u/mys1n

Hospital Ship - a group of doctors that work at a hospital ship which travels to remote islands and treats people who have no access to proper medical care. - u/-ailurophile

Hospital ship - This drama also consist different medical cases but with slight romance in it(?). It talk about the main  character working in a ship where is like a "moving hospital". Where they provide care for resident living in the nearby island. - u/mys1n

Heart Surgeon - As the show title suggest this show focus on cardiology. It shows a range of condition related to the circulatory system. The first episode totally captivate me in which they when to 'steal a heart'. They used an interesting approach to illustrate the plot.  Something they start from the ending then they explain how it happen.  - u/mys1n

Yong Pal  -This drama talk about the main character who will do anything for money. Like earn extra cash by helping gangster to treat their injuries since they can't go to hospital. The main character has his own reason of why he needs cash. It also shows a large range of medical cases - u/mys1n

The 3rd Hospital - This drama show a 3rd hospital by combing treatment from both western and eastern method to treat the patient. - u/mys1n

Jejoongwon revolves around the first Western medicine hospital in Korea. The main setting is the hospital and the characters are diverse (Western doctors, an incredibly smart FL, a ML who rejects his class in society to learn medicine).  - u/serendipitious333

The End of the World is a thriller about the spread of a mysterious disease. - u/winterlane

Doctor Champ- Having been an athlete during my school years, this one appealed a lot to me. I never got as serious as the athletes in this one do, but they have a mindset I recognized from years of “walking off” injuries & illnesses to continue to play. It was easy for me to get wrapped up in it.  - u/MeaChip

Faith - In a story that transcends time and space, a Goryeo Age warrior loves a present-day doctor. It includes time traveling. It is also known by name The Great Doctor and contains modern as well as ancient era medical scenes.  - u/Samalvii

Behind the White Tower (2007) - This is my be-all-end-all drama. An intense meditation on ambition and workplace politics set in a hospital setting, a stark reminder that in the real working world, skills and knowledge are second to money and connections. The story chronicles the rise and fall of the brilliant surgeon Dr. Jang - the decisions he makes, the ethics he comprises, the friendships he abandons to achieve his ambitions.

The drama is rooted in reality, with doctors in S Korea unanimously agreeing it's the most realistic portrayal of doctors, surgery scenes, and medicine in kdramaland. That being said, the hospital setting is a backdrop, as human conflicts take centerstage - power struggle, hospital politics, court battle. Put your logic blinders down, there are none of the usual tropes to be found in this drama. Strong characterization, intelligent screenplay devoid of histrionics, backed by a great OST, stacked with a strong cast - Kim Myungmin at his best, and in the hands of brilliant director Anh Panseok. - u/Xocobo

Jewel in the Palace (2003) - Worth a mention as an important work that propelled the Korean Wave. This sageuk chronicles the life of Jang Geum, who starts as a kitchen apprentice in the palace and perseveres against all challenges to rise and become the first female Joseon royal doctor.

This drama is memorable for the depiction of Korean culture - traditional royal cuisine and traditional medicine, its strong female centric cast, and a great OST. Bonus: director Lee Byunghoon is famed for his period dramas, and this is probably the best of his 3 medical sageuks. - u/Xocobo

It's Okay to Not Be Okay is a good drama because it highlights the topic of mental health which covers a branch of medicine. More and more often do we now find mental health an issue that needs to be made more aware to everyone so that it is not brushed off. This drama was a healing drama which would resonate with many viewers. For example, young students facing stress and pressure from the workplace. People can suffer from mental health issues from relationships, family, and medical conditions. - u/dramafan1

King's Doctor (Horse Doctor) - A combination of a medical drama, a rags to riches story, court intrigue and a fight the system story, this one is an epic historical with 50 episodes staring Cho Seung Woo as a horse doctor who rises through the ranks to become a physician in the royal court. The medical aspect of this show is a huge part of the plot for both humans and animals and its hugely entertaining to watch them try to solve each new medical crisis.  - u/Silly_Merricat