Fans of The Pitt — a TV medical drama that follows a group of ER doctors through the course of one very eventful shift — know Dr. Samira Mohan as a dedicated and empathetic resident, as well as a bit of a workaholic. What they might not know is how close actress Supriya Ganesh ’19CC, who plays Mohan on the show, came to becoming a doctor herself. A former neuroscience major at Columbia, Ganesh scored in the ninety-ninth percentile on her MCATs but decided to put her plans for medical school on hold to pursue an acting career. When she read a script for The Pitt, she was attracted to the accuracy of the science and the realistic, often harrowing portrayal of daily life in a modern trauma center. The Pitt, which stars ER veteran Noah Wyle, has earned rave reviews from critics and audiences alike since premiering on HBO Max earlier this year and has opened enough new doors for Ganesh that she’s recently quit her day job — as an MCAT tutor.
