- Medical drama set at one of New York City's hospitals during the early 1960s.
- Two pathologists -- a veteran department head (Fredric March) whose perspective has been shaped by years of red tape and day-to-day frustrations, and his new assistant (Ben Gazarra), a young, somewhat aggressive man who is more up-to-date but who lacks his colleague's personal touch -- clash in a small hospital's lab. The gulf between their approaches is dramatically illustrated by two critical cases that both are intimately involved in.—alfiehitchie
- Dr. David Coleman has just started working as the Assistant Pathologist at a county hospital in New York state, he working under the Chief Pathologist, Dr. Joseph Pearson. Both men know, spoken or not, that younger Dr. Coleman has been brought in as older Dr. Pearson's heir apparent, which does not sit well with the latter who will not be forced out, and who will run things his way without challenge as he has always done until he himself is good and ready to retire. In the process, he will not allow Dr. Coleman to make any fundamental changes to the department without his approval. While both doctors realize that things could be better with the department, Dr. Pearson sees most of the problems stemming from the tight financial constraints within he has always worked, and although Dr. Coleman agrees with that assessment to some extent, he also sees inherent problems in the way Dr. Pearson runs things regardless of the finances. Dr. Coleman also believes that certain up front outlays for equipment for example would make things more efficient leading to cost savings in the long run and more importantly better patient care. These issues place the two doctors at loggerheads with each other. While many issues arise, it may be two specific cases that show both doctors where they fit within the hospital especially in relation to each other. The first concerns the pregnant wife of intern Dr. Alexander, who has both personal and professional knowledge concerning what needs to be done for her in light of the death of their first child. And the second concerns the diagnosis for Cathy Hunt, a student nurse who Dr. Coleman has been dating, the tumor in her knee which is unclear if benign or malignant. In both cases, the work done in the Pathology Department is not only a matter of life or death, but that space in the middle of the possibility of a much reduced quality of life if unnecessary procedures are conducted the result of a misdiagnosis.—Huggo
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