NEAR WEST SIDE — A doctor who once treated Saddam Hussein will now appear on a TLC show that has him extracting a stiletto from an exotic dancer’s cheek and treating a patient covered in cow dung.
Dr. Sudip Bose treated the former dictator during his 15 months as an Army doctor in Iraq. Now Bose, an associate professor at UIC Medical Center, will play himself in TLC’s “Untold Stories of the ER,” a dramatization of real-life emergency room events.
“It definitely gave me a whole new respect for what goes into a half-hour TV show. It also probably made me realize I should stick to my day job,” Bose said.
In the show, the 39-year-old doctor re-enacts emergency room situations, which include treating a man who came into the ER covered in cow dung after hitting a cow with his convertible, and aiding a drunk exotic dancer with a stiletto embedded in her cheek.
Bose said the bizarre nature of those situations didn’t strike him until after he treated his patients.
“The main thing I try to focus on is the mission,” he said. “You can’t lose track of the bigger picture, which is that the patient may die from this tragic incident.”
On the show, which airs Sunday night, the exotic dancer attempts to flirt with Bose, who removes a stiletto that became lodged in her cheek after a fight.
The flirting didn’t faze the doctor.
“She came in with a stiletto in her face and a whole lot of personality,” he said. “I think she was pretty intoxicated the entire time. My main concern was trying to get a shoe out of her face.”
The show airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on TLC. The episode will repeat on Oct. 12.
