Neal Baer was the longstanding show runner for Law & Order: SVU. Now, he directs a new program on … More
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I’ve always been a Law & Order fan. Decades after the show first aired, I remain a devotee of the various franchises and make time each week to catch the latest episodes—and, of course, plenty of reruns.
That’s why, when the opportunity arose to speak with Neal Baer, who served as showrunner on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for 11 years, I jumped at the chance. Originally, I thought we’d talk about some of my favorite episodes. But what unfolded was a far-ranging conversation that touched on far more than television.
Neal Baer is a trained pediatrician, a former writer and producer on ER, and currently a Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine and Co-Director of the Master of Science in Media, Medicine, and Health at Harvard Medical School. Our discussion spanned his unconventional path from sociology to filmmaking to medicine, his groundbreaking work on SVU tackling topics like gun violence, abortion, and transgender health, and how he’s now training a new generation of storytellers to use data and emotion to drive public health impact.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your background and how you ended up in medical school?
A: I grew up in Denver, Colorado. My father was a surgeon, and I have two brothers who are surgeons, so I was always interested in medicine. But I initially went to graduate school at Harvard in Sociology. I wasn’t loving it, and by chance, I fell into a documentary filmmaking course in Visual and Environmental Studies.
That changed my life. I made a film called Jake’s Place that sold to PBS, and another called Nightlife, which also sold to PBS. Then I went to the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. And from there, I directed and wrote a medically based afterschool special for ABC about a girl who gets gonorrhea from her boyfriend. Then I wrote for China Beach, which was about nurses in Vietnam.
Q: What brought you back to medicine?
A: When my son was born, I wasn’t sure about staying in the entertainment world. I had already applied to medical schools and ended up going back to Harvard. I was going to do my residency in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Q: But that didn’t happen, did it?
A: I got the script for ER, which was written by Michael Crichton in 1969. It felt authentic. I had a two-month vacation accrued in med school, so I went to work on the show—and stayed for seven years. I went back and forth to finish med school during hiatuses.
Q: That sounds hectic.
A: Everyone thought it wouldn’t last—NBC hated the show. They thought it had too many characters, moved too fast, and didn’t focus enough on patients. But I stayed for seven years and finished med school during breaks.
Q: Did you end up doing your residency at Boston Children’s?
A: No, I switched to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. I did rotations during hiatuses from ER for about seven years.
Q: And during this time, you transitioned to SVU?
A: Yes. I joined SVU in its second year. I had worked with Mariska Hargitay on ER, and I didn’t want to be pigeonholed as just a “doctor writer.” I stayed on SVU for 11 years.
Q: That’s 18 years between ER and SVU. That’s impressive. What was it like running SVU?
A: It was intense. My former wife said, “That show is pretty dark.” But I did over 270 episodes. What made it exciting was writing for guest stars—Carol Burnett, Ellen Burstyn, Robin Williams, Jeremy Irons, Jerry Lewis, and many others. We won Emmys six years in a row for acting, including one for Mariska—the only lead actor Emmy in Dick Wolf’s shows.
Q: You also brought a lot of medical and psychiatric themes into the show.
A: Absolutely. We were the first to depict puberty blockers for trans youth, long before it became a national conversation. We tackled abortion access, gun violence as a public health issue, and more. One episode was based on a study by Harvard psychiatrist Felton Earls showing that kids exposed to gunfire were more likely to commit violence.
Q: How did you handle controversial topics?
A: I always presented multiple viewpoints. In one episode, a mother euthanizes her baby with Tay-Sachs. Stabler[Christopher Meloni’s character] says he’d do the same; Belzer’s character, raised Orthodox Jewish, says it’s up to God. Another episode tackled vaccine refusal—long before COVID—where a child dies from measles after being exposed in Central Park. We showed the tension between personal choice and public health.
Q: That’s powerful. It reminds me how media shapes public perception of health.
A: Exactly. I did a study published in Health Affairs in 2001 with the Kaiser Family Foundation. We found that after an ERepisode on HPV and cervical cancer, public knowledge tripled—from 20% to 60%. That’s why I focus on telling potent stories, not just “educating” or “entertaining.”
Q: Did that lead to your work with Hollywood Health and Society?
A: Yes. They provide accurate health info to writers and were funded by Norman Lear. I used to call the CDC or my Harvard professors for facts. Now, they help writers get it right. Networks like NBC require factual accuracy, and I always backed up my scripts with data.
Q: You now direct the Master of Science in Media, Medicine, and Health at Harvard. What’s the structure or philosophy behind the program?
A: The focus is on using the arts, humanities, and media to tell data-driven stories that promote health and well-being. We use a triad I developed: Data. Emotion. Action.
Students begin by starting with a data point and crafting a narrative that elicits emotions and spurs action. For instance, one student delved into the issue of HPV and cervical cancer among Vietnamese immigrant women, a demographic with the highest rate in the U.S.
When approaching this project, the student conducted research to identify where she could make the most significant impact. She discovered that 43% of nail salons employ Vietnamese immigrant workers and realized there were no cervical cancer prevention programs in these establishments. Drawing inspiration from similar initiatives in Black beauty salons targeting hypertension, she decided to create mini-documentaries for salon workers and clients. These documentaries will provide information on where to access Pap smears and Gardasil in Boston’s Chinatown.
This example exemplifies the power of applied storytelling within the program. Students showcase their creativity through various mediums such as animations, documentaries, essays, children’s books, podcasts, dance pieces, poetry, and even songwriting. One student, for instance, is composing songs addressing women’s pelvic pain, mentored by the renowned Jill Sobule.
The program comprises 30 students from diverse backgrounds, including pre-med students, current medical students, residents, fellows, patient advocates, foundation professionals, physical therapists, and artists. This eclectic mix contributes to a dynamic and passionate cohort.
The overarching aim of the program is to cultivate a new breed of health communicators who can effectively convey impactful and accurate narratives to shape public understanding and behavior. Whether through film, music, or comics, the medium takes a back seat to the message and its potential influence.
