UPMC doctor shares her experiences with ‘The Pitt’ writers

Dr. Sylvia Owusu-Ansah, associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, was one of several doctors recruited by “The Pitt” writers/producers to offer perspective on what it’s like to be an ER physician in Pittsburgh and to share her experiences.

During a two-hour Zoom call in March 2024, “The Pitt” writers took notes on the stories Owusu-Ansah shared. She’s been told that something she said was used verbatim as dialogue in one of the show’s scripts (she’s sworn to secrecy about what exactly she said that got used until after the scene airs).

In May 2024, she visited the writers’ room in person in Burbank, Calif., and she showed “The Pitt” writers an 11-minute film, “In Good Hands,” which she co-wrote about her experiences in medicine.

“I did talk about lack of diversity as far as health care providers (in Pittsburgh) compared to patients,” said Owusu-Ansah, who works in the UPMC Children’s Hospital ER. “What does it really look like inside the halls of these hospitals? How do people interact with each other? It’s not Chicago and it’s not Seattle.”

Owusu-Ansah said she was starstruck by “The Pitt” lead actor Noah Wyle, but she did not realize executive producer John Wells (“ER”) was also in the writers’ room until she left and saw a sign on the door to the “Pitt” offices.

“I’m drooling over Noah Wyle, literally fainting, and John is sitting there casually eating his salad,” Owusu-Ansah recalled. “I would have taken a selfie with him — I did take one with Noah — and then I was kicking myself once I saw the John Wells Productions sign.”

Wyle said Owusu-Ansah’s conversation and film were helpful to the show’s writers.

“There aren’t a lot of Black women doctors in Pittsburgh,” Wyle said. “The experience that (Owusu-Ansah) had and the story that she tells about treating a Black population as a Black doctor in Pittsburgh was really amazing and informed a lot of the storylines that we gave to the Dr. Collins character,” a senior resident played by Tracey Ifeachor, who is the only Black woman doctor working in “The Pitt.”