What Is 'I Am A Surgeon!' From 'The Good Doctor?' The Dramatic Scene That Became A Meme Explained

ABC's hospital drama show The Good Doctor is about an autistic surgeon named Dr. Sean Murphy who's played extremely passionately by actor Freddie Highmore. Despite giving his all to the role, Highmore has become the subject of memes on TikTok and Twitter which isolate a scene where he's screaming, "I am a surgeon!" and crying profusely.

If you haven't watched the original season 2 episode, you've probably seen the egregiously absurd CapCut edits that add silly filters and voice effects to the emotional scene. These memes are spreading fast, specifically by haters who think The Good Doctor is a bad show.

So, how did this television scene become a meme and what does it say about the show's perception? Let's explain.

What Episode Of The Good Doctor Is The 'I Am A Surgeon!' Meme From?

The scene in question is from season 2, episode 17 of the show titled "Breakdown," which aired on ABC on March 9th, 2019. In the scene, Dr. Sean Murphy (played by actor Freddie Highmore) is confronting Dr. Jackson Han (played by actor Daniel Dae Kim) about why he's being excluded from a tumor removal surgery.

Dr. Murphy starts speaking passionately in the scene, crying and screaming at Dr. Han, "I am a surgeon! I am a surgeon! I am a surgeon, Dr. Han!" Meanwhile, Dr. Han is under the impression that Dr. Murphy's autism and lack of social awareness could jeopardize the difficult procedure.

How Did 'I Am A Surgeon!' Become A Meme?

Despite the original episode airing in 2019, the The Good Doctor scene didn't become an actual meme until early 2023 on TikTok. This started when fans of the show earnestly posted the emotional clip to the platform, specifically TikToker @alilson_m on April 20th.

After the TikToker's post, more earnest uploads surfaced on the app, eventually leading to satirical edits that used absurd CapCut filters and effects, similarly to poorly made edits of The Walking Dead.

The memes also started to replace the word "surgeon" with the word "sturgeon," as in, the species of fish. Again, this word switch was completely nonsensical and satirical, in that it imagined, for no reason other than to be random, that Dr. Murphy was screaming "I am a sturgeon!" and turning into a fish.

The discourse surrounding the scene then spread to Twitter where some online believed it was indicative of bad acting. All in all, it resulted in a lot of funny memes. So no matter where you stand on the show's quality, it's a great meme to laugh at.

For the full history of I am a surgeon, be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.