Resident Playbook

It's entertaining to watch and makes you miss the main characters.

The only characters I liked and who were really worth it are Ku Doo-Won and Um Jae-Il. The others annoyed me because they showed no interest or simply thought they knew everything. There were several moments that caught my attention and that, for me, touched on things that are dealt with in real life working in the health field. It's entertaining to watch after the first few episodes. I absolutely loved the appearance of the Hospital Playlist characters; it was so heartwarming to see them back on screen with those characters, I couldn't stop getting emotional and that gives it an extra incentive to keep watching until the end, because you don't know who will appear in the next chapter. 🙂‍↔️✨

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Average with decent acting and lovely guest roles but just not memorable enough

Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75


Instead of my usual super long review, this is going to be a short one for “Resident Playbook”. In short, the drama is average. It’s not as good as “Hospital Playlist” (HP) as a slice-of-life drama, or as good as “Dr. Romantic” (DR) as a drama with exciting moments. If those two dramas are A grade, then “Resident Playbook” is a B- or C+.

“Resident Playbook” is missing the excellent backstory that HP doctors have, and how they came to develop such a strong friendship. The fun part is not as fun, and the sad part is not as sad. The medical cases and interpersonal issues are also OK. They are not as memorable as those in DR.

I do like the focus is in the OB/GYN department, as we don’t see medical dramas pay such attention to it. The acting is pretty good overall, and I love seeing so many guests from HP for a visit.

The romance is minimal and it’s so minimal that they should have completely taken it out, or give it more screen time. I do in fact enjoy the cute and adorable moments between O I Yeong and Koo Do Won. It’s just the relationship doesn’t have a lot of depth.

Overall, it’s an OK watch. “Resident Playbook” is unable to find the balance of great friendship and mentorship, romance, and memorable moments. If you are a fan of the leads, it’s worth a shot. The actors did a pretty good job and Go Young Jung is beautiful, even as a tired intern.

Completed: 6/2/2025 - Review #587

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Learning. Personal Growth. Building Lasting Relationships.

The Season 01 season finale was very good. They balanced well the different things that happens in a hospital especially on New Years Eve.

- 2 deaths
- 3 newly borns
- 4 first-year residents growing and learning

With surprise comedies and a "karmic" conclusion. And best of all, the mainstays were all present (not like in S01E11, one mainstay was absent).

However, as is Korean drama tradition, it was written in a way that it truly ended, not leaving anything for a possible new season. It was so perfect, you wouldn't ask for more as it brought proper closures and immense satisfaction.

Still, I do hope there'll be a Season 02 because I like the entire cast and their acting. They did not outshine one another, instead, they complemented each other's acting. A weakness of one actor was hidden because of another actor filling in. Was it intentional? Maybe, maybe not, and that's what made the cast awesome. Who cares if they're support or main or a guest? They were all there to have fun and bring joy to the audience.

Final words. We want Season 02!

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Fun and Realistic

I’m pretty new to medical series/dramas, but here’s my review:

I really enjoyed the story. It follows a young woman who is in debt and doesn’t want to work in this field again. I found the medical scenes very well made. At the same time, I looked up information about the job and noticed that it was quite accurately portrayed! There’s also a mini romance included, which was quite cute, along with some conflicts between certain characters. Overall, it was really good.The characters have great dynamics with each other, and there’s a nice connection between the superiors and the new staff members.

The music is good too.

I think series in this style, like The Trauma Code and others, have a lot of potential. I wouldn’t say no to a Season 2! Seeing how she evolves after the end of Season 1 would be interesting.

In short, I recommend it if you like medical dramas!

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i'm not into medical drama but i'm hooked

the storylines are light, the characters are so special dan relatable. not too much drama, no hospital political, and so annoying older. I actually wanted dr.myeon get more big deal, not only failed becoming professor cause i'm so ragebaited. some scenes are warmth esp on the last ep.

lovelines are cute despite people's complaint about the cast, me personally think the actor who plays gu dowon is okay (well go younjoung is TOO UNREAL tho).

I might not rewatch it but it still has rewatch value, kinda miss OBGYz tho, their friendship is cutest ㅠㅠ I'm also becoming um jay's stan lmao

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The Hospital Playlist cameos were the best!!!

First of all, I watched this drama just because I liked Hospital Playlist. I usually don’t like hospital dramas because of all the surgery scenes. I can’t handle the gore and sadly, towards the end of the drama they showed a lot of surgeries which they didn’t at the beginning of the show (I guess on purpose, the show was advancing according to the progress of the residents).
Like I didn’t understand why they had to show the frigging bloody scene at the beginning of episode 10!!! I was trying to eat my breakfast but I had to turn it off because I was starting to loose my appetite.
Another thing I didn’t like were all the annoying professors and teachers being mean, toxic and screaming at everyone. I don’t remembet seeing so many annoying characters in Hospital Playlist!!! And tbh even the MFL was not someone I could identify with at all. At the beginning I didn’t really like her that much. Jae-il was the only character I liked at the beginning and then also Pyo Nam-kyung. I started liking her the most among the female characters as well as Professor Seo. I also liked it how the 1st-year resident had a crush on her. I wish they had brought him into the story faster instead of wasting so much time on her being an obsessive girlfriend…
Also I am not so sure about Sa-bi and Jae-il pairing up… And the main female lead and Do-won dating is quite weird too… They are in-laws… That’s SO WEIRD!!!! I definitely did not like it and would have liked it better if she had gotten together with the anesthesiologist hottie 😍😍😍

Well there were some good parts to the drama too. In general it definitely captured the Hospital Playlist atmosphere quite well. I did wish the main characters would also engage in some kind of collective hobby like in Hospital Playlist but I guess as residents they must be so overwhelmed that they can’t even think of a hobby.
I also liked that this one focused on the OB-GYN more and it definitely had much fewer devastating storylines and in general had less scenes involving death.

All in all a lot of heart-warming and inspiring scenes, seeing how the residents grow into better doctors and people all together.

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It's Hospital but not Playlist

If you're a Hospital Playlist series fans and watching this to get the same vibes, you will be disappointed. So please, hold your expectations. While Hospital Playlist series has a more relaxed plot, this show surely has a bold and tense storyline from the very first episode. In HP series, you just watch a casual, yet-not-so-normal day as a doctor in a hospital. In this show there are clearly goal or let's say storyline: they need to survive their first year of residency. So whatever it takes it will be around them and their mistakes as the first year, as well as their desire to give up at any time. And also no band sessions after working hour here! In my opinion, this show is more like Dr. Romantic, but with more laid-back style.

I like the choice of the cast. There are some uncommon faces here, but yet they deliver excellently, just like typical Shin PD's show! Go Youn-Jung is playing with a disgust face towards her job, which is hilarious. Shin Si-A is somehow has the most "doctor" aura between the R1s.

Even it's still good, the first episode is kinda messed up for me. This episode is somewhat dragging and doesn't match any other episode's vibe because of the tensions building between characters, as well as the romance that hit too early in the beginning. Character development is very strong in this show, at least for the R1 doctors. But for me it's not easy to identify Nam-Gyeong's. We can easily identify that I-Yeong is there because of her debt, Sa-Bi is of course trying to be number one, and Jae-Il is trying to hang on amidst his lack of intelligence, but Nam-Gyeong? At the first episode she is boasting about her grades, but throughout the show nothing notable shown. She also seems to prefer enjoying luxurious lifestyle compared to what she gets in the hospital, but it is unknown whether she's trying to quit her job or to hang on. Is she doing all these solely because of Yeo Mi-So?

I love the Hospital Playlist casts cameo. But some cameo scenes need more work so it will become enjoyable. Seok-Min and Seon-Bin's scene is too short and not really impactful. Also no band sessions don't mean that there won't be any good soundtracks!

On top of that, this is still a highly recommended series! If you feel that Hospital Playlist too slow and boring, maybe you should try this one because it has more intense storyline, but still relaxing to enjoy at the end of your exhausting days!

Oh, and I prefer the second season of this compared the third season of HP. Imagine what would happen when they're in R2 year and having R1s under them? The last episode is not fulfilling and left some things kinda hanging. There will a sequel, won't it?

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A Heartfelt Journey of Growth, with Romance as the Spark

I'm usually not someone who enjoys hospital dramas, but Resident Playbook completely changed that for me—I ended up watching each episode twice! The character development is beautifully written. The screenwriter and director created something truly wholesome, and the cast gave 100% to bring their characters to life.

When I first decided to give it a try, I had no idea I’d end up loving Resident Playbook this much. As a woman in her mid-20s, I found the characters’ personal struggles to carve out their own paths especially relatable and inspiring.

💖 Couples & Romance💖:
The romance was slow and steady, but it picked up speed toward the end. The sweet, lovey-dovey moments between the main couple were my favorites. OIY being straightforward really stood out for me.

As for the second couple—if there’s a season 2—they’d definitely start dating soon. Their chemistry is undeniable, and their dynamic shows a beautiful balance of EQ and IQ.

✨ Actors & Characters ✨
Jung Jun Won, who plays Dowon, was already a candidate for series producer, and I’m so glad he was the one cast. He truly deserved the recognition he gained from Resident Playbook.

Kang Yooseok auditioned several times before landing the role of Um Jae Il, and his persistence clearly paid off—he brought depth and warmth to the character.

Han Yeji, in her first role after graduating, made a fantastic debut as Sabi. She and Kang Yooseok absolutely nailed their roles, even dancing in character! That scene was such a clever and fun way to reveal that Sabi was a Hello Girl.

Shin Shi Ah, who played Pyo Nam Gyeong, had the most emotionally intense scenes among the four residents. Her performance was impressive—she showed so many layers to her character.

Professors Seo Jeong-min (Lee Bong-ryun) and Ryu Jae-hwi (Lee Chang-hoon) stood out to me the most. They did an exceptional job portraying supportive mentors whom the residents relied on the most. Their guidance and presence brought a sense of stability and warmth to the series, making them integral to the residents' journey.

Let’s not forget our villain—Kim Hye In played Myung Eun Won so well that I genuinely got annoyed. Personally, I found the ending satisfying, as this time she couldn’t get her way.

🫶🏻
All in all, I’m really grateful this project came to life. It introduced us to such a talented cast, and I’m so happy I got to experience this journey with them. They truly did an amazing job. If there is the slightest possibility for season two, I'm already down for it.

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Resident Playbook. Resident. Singular. No heart and lacks the camaraderie that made HP successful

I'm a fan of Hospital Playlist 1 & 2, and what the original excelled in—besides the fantastic chemistry among the cast—was showing that the doctors had lives outside of work. The characters had external interests (priesthood, camping, eating out together, and of course, singing in a band). It also explored their relationships with parents, siblings, and children. All of these qualities made Hospital Playlist charming.

In Resident Playbook, we don't see any of that. We see 90% of the residents' lives in the hospital. They're constantly tired, complaining, lacking in personality, and bad at their jobs.

Maybe the title Resident Playbook is intentional—Resident, singular—as in it's only Oh I-yeong's playbook (Go Youn-jung's character) that will be the focus and not the other residents. At first, I understood her reluctance to return to her career and why she wasn't as proactive as the rest of her cohort. But later, her bored attitude and sloppy mistakes became grating at best and unprofessional at worst.

Normally, when rookie doctors are portrayed as bored, aloof, or cold, there’s a reason to excuse their behavior—namely, that they're such phenomenal doctors that their skill alone compensates for their attitude. Oh I-yeong is not a phenomenal doctor. She's barely even a good one. It’s just that the writers made the rest of the cast so utterly incompetent that Oh I-yeong emerges as “better” by comparison.

What seemed out of character was how she displayed more energy trying to get her in-law/supervisor's attention than in caring for patients. This isn’t a female lead you want to root for. The romance is unnecessary, and—speaking personally—I found neither the FL nor ML attractive or charismatic enough to be invested in their romantic lives.

As for the other residents: Pyo Nam-gyeong (Shin Shi-ah) always seemed flustered around patients and spent nearly half the series texting her ex-boyfriend, as if she had no self-worth. I expected more from Kim Sa-bi (Han Ye-ji), especially since they gave her the Choi Song-hwa look (bob cut and circular glasses), but most of her screen time was spent being petulant and clinging to her high school/college glory years.

Even the supporting cast (other doctors and upper-level residents) lacked charm and constantly seemed tired of their jobs or annoyed when the inexperienced doctors asked questions. This is such a departure from Hospital Playlist where even the residents there weren't flat, 1D characters

The two characters I did like were the senior female doctor, Seo Jeong-min, and the male resident, Um Jae-il, because they both have traits that feel true to the Hospital Playlist universe—genuinely caring for their patients. Jeong-min is fair and direct. Jae-il can be a bit too enthusiastic, but he puts his heart into his work.

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comforting.

this drama is so comforting. It’s just what I hoped for. Shin PD really never fails. every drama made by him is always good.

i really liked how the characters grew. Yiyoung used to always want to quit, but now she enjoys being a resident. Namkyung learned a lot from her patients. Jaeil studied hard to become more helpful. And Sabi now feels more like a real, normal person.

Resident Playbook is not just about doctors, but about their personal growth and daily lives. It shows their struggles, their small victories, and their friendships in a very warm and quiet way. watching them made me feel comforted and calm.

it’s a slow and gentle drama, but that’s what makes it special. it reminds you that it’s okay to grow slowly, to feel tired sometimes, and to find happiness in small things.

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