The Continuity Error That Bothers Chicago Med Fans

Continuity errors are to be expected for pretty much any television show that extends past a few seasons. After all, it makes sense that certain details need to be retconned in order for something else to make sense logistically. The chances of one of those happening further increases when you have a series of television shows all connected within the same universe like "One Chicago."

Starting with "Chicago Fire," the franchise has gone on to create numerous spinoffs, including "Chicago P.D.," "Chicago Med," and "Chicago Justice." Over the years, characters who originated on one program would cross over into another, showing just how interconnected these various emergency services are in real life. But with characters going back and forth between shows, it's only understandable if some details get lost in translation. 

That was the case with Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss), and some fans have taken to social media to voice their confusion about the character's background.

Dr. Will Halstead has been a prominent figure on the "One Chicago" franchise ever since making his debut on "Chicago P.D." in 2015. He's gone on to have prominent roles in both "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago Med," which makes sense seeing how he's a doctor and would therefore wind up in the middle of many of the plotlines featured throughout the series. However, through his appearances on over 100 episodes of the franchise, something strange has manifested, as Redditor u/Wazza04 points out, "First when Dr. Halstead was introduced he was apparently a plastic surgeon from [New York], then a couple of episodes later when a guy is hurt badly the firefighters refer to Will as a trauma surgeon to a patient which surprised me a lot. Now when I look back at Chicago med he is an ER doctor. Is this just poor writing or is it even possible to be three different kinds of doctors?"

Basically, Halstead has been introduced as having multiple specialties, and the question is whether that's even possible. One user with some apparent knowledge in the field chimed in to offer their two cents, "While it is possible to have multiple board certifications (my husband is ER/Internal Medicine/ICU), it's very uncommon to have completely different surgery certifications because of the rigorous training." Perhaps that was the justification for making Dr. Halstead a jack of all trades. It's within the realm of possibility for it to happen; it just sounds like most people don't pursue that path. 

Of course, some fans think Halstead has another specialty that's gone unspoken by the show; as one Redditor put it, "I think his specialty is actually breaking the rules and making Goodwin's job harder." It appears this is one continuity error fans can't help but get hung up on.