One of the reasons why The Pitt has received so much acclaim is that it’s medically accurate. Healthcare workers have praised how the show represents their work. Meanwhile, Noah Wyle has made it abundantly clear that the program’s goal is to accurately tell their stories. Now, he’s shared how the cast prepared to do just that by recalling the medical boot camp they all went through. On top of that, he also got hilariously real about the ER cast’s chances of getting through it.
Noah Wyle Explained The Boot Camp The Pitt’s Cast Went Through
As Season 2 of The Pitt premiered on the 2026 TV schedule (you can stream it with an HBO Max subscription), Noah Wyle opened up about how the cast prepared to play doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Before shooting, they all went through training where they learned the basics (like how to hold the instruments and put on gloves), and through that, they were able to look a lot like doctors on screen. Explaining the "boot camp" (as referred to by medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook) further, the Emmy winner told CBS Sunday Mornings:
Because this is a fairly young ensemble, and certainly none of us have ever been doctors before, and we all had to start at a pretty high level of proficiency. It was really important that we came in a few weeks before we started shooting, learn how to put on your gloves, learn how to say the words, learn how to hold the instruments, learn how to move and think like a doctor, talk to doctors, go to the hospital.
While I’m no doctor, watching The Pitt certainly makes me feel like I’m really in the ER. Clearly, this training has paid off big time, too. Not only is this show beloved by fans, but it’s also praised for the issues it covers and the way it depicts those who work in hospitals. Medical professionals and general viewers love it, and it turned out so good because of how committed this cast and crew are to getting things right.
However, when it comes to this kind of training for the other medical drama Noah Wyle is known for, he’s not so sure they would have made it through as well…
Noah Wyle Is Convinced That The ER Cast Would Not Have Done Well In The Pitt’s Boot Camp
Right after the Dr. Robby actor praised The Pitt cast for taking their training so seriously, he poked fun at his former co-stars from ER. He explained that the cast probably wouldn’t have done so well because they are all silly geese. He said:
I will say that, you know, if this had been the ER cast, and we asked them to do three weeks of boot camp, you would have gotten six class clowns screwing around, not listening, playing with the gloves, making them into balloons, doing all sorts of crazy stuff.
Well, considering George Clooney is a known prankster and is open about how he cheated his way through learning medical dialogue for ER, I can see why Wyle said this. However, I’d like to have a bit more faith in the cast of the medical drama that ran for 15 seasons.
In the end, though, the Dr. Carter actor was very confident that The Pitt cast was better suited for medical boot camp, and he even found himself trying to keep up with them, saying:
These guys, these were not class clowns. These were first students. They were top students…. They picked this stuff up so fast that, as the old veteran who thought, ‘I've got such an advantage,’ I was like, 'Oh, wow. Hey, I've got to pick it up a little bit. These guys are really adept.'
I love that The Pitt cast was so committed to this that even Noah Wyle found himself upping his game during their medical training. Now, I’ll 100% be thinking about all the preparation that went into this hit show as Season 2 continues to air.
Speaking of Season 2, you can catch new episodes every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on HBO Max. Also, if you’d like to throw it back and see the “class clowns” of ER, you can stream all 15 seasons in the same place.
