GREGORY HOUSE

Hugh Laurie
House, M.D. (2004-)

His bedside manner may be a wee bit caustic (''What would you prefer — a doctor who holds your hand while you die or one who ignores you while you get better?''), but if you're suffering from some exotically unexplainable malaise, he's your guy. Unless he kills you.


DEREK SHEPHERD

Patrick Dempsey
Grey's Anatomy (2005-)

One longing, take-me-in-the-elevator glance from Seattle Grace neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd would surely heal us of any malady.


JACK SHEPHARD

Matthew Fox
Lost (2004-2010)

Is there a doctor on the plane? Thank goodness there was on Oceanic Flight 815. The survivors would definitely be lost (sorry, couldn't resist) without Dr. De Facto Leader.


JACKIE PAYTON

Edie Falco
Nurse Jackie (2009-present)

Here's how EW TV critic Ken Tucker describes Jackie: ''A veteran ER nurse who's deeply cynical about the doctors she works with and openheartedly kind to the patients in her care. 'Doctors don't heal, they diagnose — we heal,' she says of nurses. From anyone else, that might seem like hubris; from the woman who embodied Carmela Soprano, it just seems like common sense.'' —Marc Bernardin


CHRISTINA HAWTHORNE

Jada Pinkett Smith
Hawthorne (2009-present)

The no-nonsense, straight-ahead earthiness that Miss Jada brings to her starring role as a registered nurse in this TNT drama earns her a spot on this list of the best television caregivers. —Marc Bernardin


''DOOGIE'' HOWSER

Neil Patrick Harris
Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-1993)>

Before he was legend-dairy as womanizing Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother, NPH played a pint-sized prodigy serving up precocious diagnoses. Balancing adolescence, a girlfriend, and a medical career? Awesome!


JENNIFER MELFI

Lorraine Bracco
The Sopranos (1999-2007)

Psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi got more Mob juice out of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) than an FBI wiretap ever could. It's a rare woman who is privy to Mafia secrets and doesn't end up sleeping with the fishes...or her patient.


CAROL HATHAWAY

Julianna Marguiles
E.R. (1994-2009)

Sometimes, caregivers can be just as in need of help as their patients. Case in point: Nurse Hathaway, who'd coped with suicidal tendencies and rocky relationships since day one. But her struggles made her triumphs that much more amazing to watch. —Marc Bernardin


JAMES KILDARE

Richard Chamberlain
Dr. Kildare (1961-1966)

Meredith Grey wasn't the first intern to steam up a soapy medical drama. In the 1960s, Blair General Hospital intern James Kildare healed patients and meddled in their personal lives, much to the chagrin of benevolent mentor Leonard Gillespie.


CLIFF HUXTABLE

Bill Cosby
The Cosby Show (1984-1992)

Best known for his trove of garish sweaters and penchant for hoagies, we sometimes forget bumbling Cliff Huxtable is actually a skilled ob-gyn. But how can you go wrong with a physician who probably has his own lifetime supply of Jell-O?


MICHAELA ''MIKE'' QUINN

Jane Seymour
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993-1998)

We'll admit it: We spent many a Saturday night on the sofa rooting for Dr. Mike as she strove to earn the trust and respect of her skeptical Colorado Springs neighbors. With a successful medical practice, a hot mountain-man husband, and adoring children, this determined doc proved pioneer women could have it all — if only they were allowed.


DOUG ROSS

George Clooney
E.R. (1994-2009)

No one enjoys playing doctor more than George Clooney — he's done it twice (sorta), for penicillin's sake! He started his Chicago emergency room twofer playing floppy-haired med tech Mark ''Ace'' Kolmar in the short-lived '80s sitcom E/R, but it was his role as bad-boy-with-a-big-heart Doug Ross on NBC's nigh-immortal E.R. that made him a star — and a sex symbol.


CARLA ESPINOSA

Judy Reyes
Scrubs (2001-present)

According to this NBC-then-ABC sitcom, the staffs of most hospitals are like scout troops. Which would make Carla the den mother of Scrubs' misfit band of doctors, surgeons, patients, and, yes, janitors. —Marc Bernardin


''HAWKEYE'' PIERCE

Alan Alda
M*A*S*H (1972-1983)

Eleven years in the South Korean wilderness would have been much more deplorable without the antics of wisecracking surgeon Hawkeye Pierce. Yet for all the levity he supplied, his helicopter exit from the 4077th still leaves us misty.


FRASIER AND NILES CRANE

Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce
Frasier (1993-2004)

Neurotic psychiatrist brothers Frasier and Niles Crane seem to have more issues than the patients they purport to help. Daddy complex? Check. Messy divorces? You bet. Unrequited love? Of course. Physicians, heal thyselves!


MIRANDA ''THE NAZI'' BAILEY

Chandra Wilson
Grey's Anatomy (2005-)

We like strong-willed Miranda Bailey when she's kicking intern butt, but we love the Seattle Grace chief resident when she shows us her vulnerable side (like when she let intern George help deliver her son). Her struggle to balance work and family life is something any woman can relate to, which makes her much less of a ''Nazi.''


MARCUS WELBY

Robert Young
Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969-1976)

Much like its predecessor, Dr. Kildare, Marcus Welby, M.D. focused on the relationship between an older mentor and his younger charge. This time around, it was the more-seasoned physician's unusual holistic approach that raised the eyebrow of younger assistant Steven Kiley (played by James Brolin). Who says you can't teach an old doc new tricks?


CHRISTINE CHAPEL

Majel Barrett
Star Trek (1966-1969)

A doctor as irascible as Leonard ''Bones'' McCoy needed a nurse with her head on straight and her phaser set to ''calm.'' Nurse Chapel fit the bill. (And eventually married the boss — Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.) —Marc Bernardin


NICK RIVIERA

Voiced by Hank Azaria
The Simpsons (1989-)

If by ''best'' you mean ''worst,'' then yes, hack-quack Dr. Nick fits right in on our list of TV's top docs. But if you're not looking for a leg as an arm or an un-anaesthetized surgery, you might want to save your shillings for a visit to Dr. Hibbert.


KATHRYN AUSTIN

Christine Lahti
Chicago Hope (1994-2000)

We like our female surgeons rough-and-ready (see: Miranda Bailey), which is why we'd appoint cardiac surgeon Kathryn Austin chief of surgery any day. We just hope she isn't in the bathroom when the announcement is made.


PHILIP CHANDLER

Denzel Washington
St. Elsewhere (1982-1988)

Playing a doc on the small screen seems to pay off big in silver-screen karma. Just ask hunky Denzel Washington, who got his big break playing Philip Chandler in the '80s drama St. Elsewhere. Trivia Break: He's one of three former docs on our list who have won Academy Awards (George Clooney and Christine Lahti are the other two).


JOHN ''J.D.'' DORIAN

Zach Braff
Scrubs (2001-2010)

Another one of our favorite interns, J.D. may have climbed up the ladder to attending physician, but that doesn't mean he gets any more respect from the Janitor. Or that he has any less wacky daydreams.


MARK GREENE AND ELIZABETH CORDAY

Anthony Edwards and Alex Kingston
E.R. (1994-2009)

Steadfast Mark Greene was always the voice of reason in County General's frenetic emergency room, which may explain why he and frenzied British surgeon Elizabeth Corday made such a good pair. After Mark's death from cancer, Corday suffered a few career missteps — including a harrowing return to Britain — but ultimately redeemed herself, becoming chief of surgery.


DR. DRAKE RAMORAY (JOEY TRIBBIANI)

Matt LeBlanc
Friends (1994-2004)

The role of Dr. Drake Ramoray on Friends' faux-soap opera was the only big-time acting gig lovable goof Joey ever landed. All the more reason to talk about it over, and over, and over.... At least we picked up that useful ''smell the fart'' acting technique.


LEONARD ''BONES'' McCOY

DeForest Kelley
Star Trek (1966-1969)

Sure, he's prejudiced against Vulcans, but he'll treat anyone who comes into his Sick Bay on the U.S.S. Enterprise, no matter what shape their ears are. Dr. McCoy gets a gold star in our book for routinely offering Captain Kirk some good old-fashioned final-frontier wisdom.


SEAN McNAMARA AND CHRISTIAN TROY

Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon
Nip/Tuck (2003-)

Illegitimate children, face-disfiguring serial rapists, and tummy tucks. Is there anything these Miami-cum-L.A. plastic surgeons can't handle? Maybe a week without an eyebrow wax...


''TRAPPER JOHN'' McINTYRE

Pernell Roberts
Trapper John, M.D. (1979-1986)

Twenty-eight years after the Korean War, M*A*S*H's Trapper John emerges at a different locale (San Francisco Memorial Hospital) and played by a different person (Pernell Roberts). He initially locks horns with Vietnam vet Gonzo (i.e., the embodiment of Trapper's younger self), but eventually he warms up. Because that's what TV doctors do, the ones who aren't House, anyway.

I love so many of them! Jack Shepard, Derek Shepherd, Doug Ross, Carol Hathaway, and Doogie Howser are all amazing. But Dr. Huxtable (in fact the entire Cosby Show) does not get nearly as much love as he deserves. He's so funny and such a great character.

All the ER docs on this list

By far

and Dr Drake Ramoray, Shepherd, House & Nick Riviera.

Where the fuck is Cristina Yang? Anyway, also Jackie (you have to see that series, is better than any actual medical series) and Nick Riviera (and an unlisted Dr. Hibbert).

I LOVE Christian & Sean too, but I will never pass up a chance to say how much I love Niles & Frasier. They're the shit!

♥
but I love all the ones I know.

My #1 favorites ♡

& Carol & Doug

THE best & my favorite!!!

And Doug Ross.

All the way♥ also they from Greys:)

And House.

Wow! It's hard for me to choose between Gregory House, Doug Ross and Jack Shepherd!
I also love Miranda "The Nazi" Bailey (one of the few characters that I really like in "Grey's Anatomy"), John "J.D." Dorian and Carla Espinosa (Scrubs), Cliff Huxtable (The Cosby Show), Mark Green and Elizabeth Corday + Carol Hathaway (E.R.), Jackie Peyton (Nurse Jackie), Christina Hawthorne (Hawthorne), Jennifer Melfi (The Sopranos), Michaela "Mike" Quinn (I was "obsessed" by Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, some years ago), "Hawkeye" Pierce (M*A*S*H*) and Leonard "Bones" McCoy and Christine Chapel (Star Trek).
PS: Sorry for this long list! Again!