Sheila Murphy is a habitual watcher of television shows such as “ER” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” but what she’s paying attention to is different than what’s attracting the typical viewer.

She studies the storylines of popular medical shows and their impact on how people make health-related decisions. She examines the effectiveness of shows in influencing viewers to become organ donors, get a breast exam or prepare for a natural disaster.

Her goal is to get accurate medical information out to millions of people worldwide by suggesting important and timely topics to show writers.

“I’ve learned you have to be very careful when you’re trying to integrate health care information into entertainment,” Murphy says. “Things can go awry. For example, it matters what race, gender or age is used. People who are similar will pick it up better. If you have a diabetes storyline and you’re trying to reach people most at risk of diabetes, you’d want a character who is black or Hispanic because they are most susceptible to the disease.”

She says her work is especially gratifying when she sees a suggested storyline on television, and then measures its impact.

“It’s particularly satisfying when we see the analyses and find out people scheduled a breast cancer exam because of a storyline on breast cancer,” she says. “It’s great to see a story done right because we know it’s not just the millions of viewers in the U.S. who will see it, but countries like China and South America that later see it in syndication.”