Walter David Dishell (born July 16, 1939[1]) is an American physician who has served as a medical consultant on several long-running TV shows, including M*A*S*H, Medical Center, Trapper John, M.D., and Knots Landing.
Like many similar shows, Medical Center focused on physician-patient relationships instead of the actual medicine itself.
Dishell said that "the disease itself didn't matter... [CBS] would give me a dramatic story and then I would build the medicine around it.”[3] One challenge Dishell faced as a medical consultant for M*A*S*H was always making sure that the medicine practiced on the show was not too advanced.
Dishell consulted medical textbooks from the 1950s and professional publications like the Journal of War Surgery to ensure the show’s historical accuracy.
In 1986, he established the Aesthetic Surgery Associates of Encino, California.