ER Doctor Shares How a Line from The Pitt Helps Him Comfort Grieving Families, Calling It His ‘Guide for Saying Goodbye’

ER Doctor Finds Unexpected Lesson in The Pitt That Changes How He Helps Families Say Goodbye

Healthcare professionals usually watch medical dramas with skepticism, spotting inaccuracies or overly dramatized moments. But for Texas ER doctor J. Mack Slaughter, one show gave him something far more meaningful than entertainment.

Speaking with PEOPLE, Dr. Slaughter, 42, reveals that a single line from The Pitt has changed the way he approaches patients and families during life’s hardest moments—and he plans to carry it with him “forever.”

The moment comes in season 1, when Dr. Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch, played by Noah Wyle, consoles two children facing the imminent loss of their father. Unsure how to say goodbye, the family is guided by a practice called Hoʻoponopono,”

“Dr. Robby tells them, ‘I love you. Thank you. I forgive you. Please forgive me,’” Dr. Slaughter recalls. “It makes me emotional. But it’s exactly what families need to hear in that moment.”

For Dr. Slaughter, these words struck a deep chord. As an ER physician, he regularly faces the heartbreak of patients receiving devastating diagnoses—or arriving too late to say goodbye to a loved one.

“My job is to help them reach the bedside and navigate that goodbye,” he says. “Before this, I didn’t really have a roadmap for it. Watching that scene gave me one. I’m grateful to The Pitt for that—it’s one of the most beautiful moments in the series and it will stay with me for the rest of my career.”

He admits he originally tuned in expecting just another dramatized medical show.

“I didn’t expect to be watching a TV show and suddenly discovering a tool I could use in real life,” he says. “I was watching to see if they got it right—and then I ended up learning something that changes how I approach the end-of-life process with families.”

Dr. Slaughter acknowledges that the show can be emotionally intense for healthcare workers.

“Anyone who’s worked on the front lines carries long-lasting memories of trauma,” he says. “Watching The Pitt, you relive some of those moments. It’s both beautiful and difficult.”

Still, he says he’s thankful the series captured the emergency room so faithfully.

“I’m grateful that someone has documented this work with such fidelity. In 30 years, when my career winds down, I can look back, re-experience it, and maybe even show my grandkids, ‘This is what your granddad did,’” he shares.

With over 1.4 million followers on social media, Dr. Slaughter expresses gratitude to everyone involved in creating The Pitt.

“It really captures a moment in time in emergency medicine,” he says.

The Pitt season 2 is now streaming on HBO Max.