History Main / BackAlleyDoctor

** Dr. Hartman has a license (although whether it's real is a different question), but he doesn't know what the human anatomy is called, he treats the books in his office like cheat sheets, and he once prescribed Viagra as an anti-depressant.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' features a couple operating in [[TheCityNarrows Downbelow]] from time to time. Even Dr. Franklin, the station's chief medical officer, secretly runs a small clinic down there. In "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E21TheQualityOfMercy The Quality of Mercy]]", Franklin investigates one such doctor, only to learn two things: 1. this back-alley doctor's daughter is ''smoking hot'', and 2. that she is using a bit of black market ImportedAlienPhlebotinum that heals her patients by [[CastFromHitPoints giving of her own life energy]]. When an escaped mass-murderer holds her daughter hostage and forces her to use the machine to heal his own wounds, [[spoiler:she proceeds to ReverseThePolarity, and transfers a severe chronic disease she has been suffering with into his body, killing him painfully.]] After being responsible for that, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she feels that she can never work as a healer again]].

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In ''Solitary Man'', Dr. Kyle [=LaMott=] is a plastic surgeon who lost his license to practice medicine two years ago, but runs a clinic with a burly male nurse (whose female predecessor was scared away by a patient with tentacles) that provides surgery to otherworldly patients like vampires who need botox injections or want their fangs filed.

* ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'' features a borderline example: a sleazy Mystic doctor named Dr. Nusakan in the back alleys of Koorong that you can recruit into your party. The ghost in his lobby and his general creepiness lend to the idea that his practice is less about medicine and more about [[VampireDoctor making a front for his own vampiric tendencies]]. On the other hand, he is rather knowledgeable -- though his knowledge seems to be more on spiritual than medical matters. Either way, he is still a quite literal back-alley doctor considering where you find him. [[spoiler:In the original game, the only time he's of any use is in Riki's story -- he knows how to save the Yorkland millionaire's daughter from her DemonicPossession. The remaster restored his big role in Asellu's story.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' features a remarkably competent example of this trope in the form of Dr. Anton Aldini, a disreputable plastic surgeon operating out of a derelict abattoir in Brooklyn. For added fun, he's voiced by Creator/PeterStormare, the same man who gave us Dr. Eddie of ''Film/MinorityReport''. Along with the barbershop in London, Aldini is the players' means of [[MagicPlasticSurgery altering their appearance]], and despite being a raving lunatic working with substandard tools at best, he does his job with zero failures. However, it's implied that there is some kind of magic at work, particularly since the surgery is just a convenient method of funding Aldini's experiments in reanimating the dead.

* Yu Nanba, from ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', was a practicing nurse until he got stripped of his license when he was caught running a side hustle selling meds on the black market. He now lives on the streets as a hobo, and meets TheHero, Ichiban Kasuga, while treating him after he had been dumped in his town after being shot.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': The staff at Hell's Pass Hospital. Although it is never made clear whether they possess licenses or not, they are nevertheless shown to be completely terrible at their jobs given the number of people who have died or became incapacitated while under their supervision.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': How unprofessional the staff at Hell's Pass Hospital are tends to vary from episode to episode, but at their worst they could kill or incapacitate their patients by accident during a simple medical procedure.

* ''Anime/{{Monster}}'':

A surgeon with medical credentials that are... less than ideal. This could be for any number of reasons, from the surgeon having his license revoked, to actually being denied one in the first place, or (if you're lucky) [[WorthlessForeignDegree he got it in the wrong country.]] One or more patients in the past may have died on his operating table due to improper procedures, mistakes, or lack of proper sanitation. Chances are they still do. Even so, he still gets a lot of business, simply because he never asks any questions. He does, however, expect you to do the same, and he expects to be paid in cash.

The Back Alley Doctor typically operates in a dimly lit, grungy room in a cheap apartment with minimal surgical tools and equipment. Sterilization is optional, often involving cigarette lighters, hot plates, or that bottle of whiskey he's been [[QuickNip sipping on]] all day, including during the surgery. The whiskey is likely to double as a painkiller and is safer than any pills he may have on hand. For ''really'' bad cases see ComicallyIneptHealing.

On the other hand, in a {{Dystopia}} he may be a good doctor who fell afoul of the ObstructiveBureaucrat or who is out of favor with the regime. His poverty and lack of proper equipment may be the only problem in getting good medical treatment -- well, that and the danger of getting busted. In settings where abortion is illegal, [[AbortionFalloutDrama women may turn to this doctor]] (unless they are [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney wealthy]]).

* ''Literature/TheAbortionAHistoricalRomance'': An unnamed narrator tells the tale of taking his girlfriend Vida to a veterinarian's office in Tijuana, Mexico for an abortion in this Creator/RichardBrautigan novel set before Roe vs. Wade. To sterilize his surgical tools, the doctor douses them in tequila (but, surprisingly, does ''not'' [[QuickNip partake of said tequila himself]]) and then heat-sterilizes them with an acetylene torch. [[SubvertedTrope On the other hand]], Dr. Garcia actually has high ethical and professional standards. When he says "no pain, all clean" you can believe it.

* Shinra Kishitani from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''. He ''is'' a competent surgeon, though, and wouldn't have any problem getting a license (aside from his ImprobableAge, that is), if he ever cared to. Of course, being raised by his father, Shingen, the show's resident MadDoctor, left him with [[BunnyEarsLawyer more than just]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} a couple]] [[NightmareFetishist of loose screws]], so he never bothered. He also seems to make a decent buck on his occupation too, as evident from the posh apartment[[note]]The rents in Tokyo are astronomical. The kind of apartment they live in can easily cost $5000 a month in rent only in Ikebukuro.[[/note]] where he lives with [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend not-girlfriend]] Celty Sturluson, and them never lacking anything. Apparently, as Ikebukuro is a somewhat upscale district, even Back Alley Doctors charge a pretty penny there. Or perhaps due to being the local medic for all the {{Yakuza}} in Ikebukuro, able to handle bullet removals and other "necessary repairs," on the spot, on the quiet, no questions asked, confidentiality guaranteed,[[note]]In other words, by calling on him, they avoid hospitals and thus exposure to the police while keeping valuable gangsters alive.[[/note]] he gets paid well.

* Played with in ''Film/MissionImpossibleIII''. In the climax, Ethan Hunt pursues the villains down a back alley and into a house which to his surprise turns out to be a surgery (presumably unlicensed). Unlike other examples of this trope, the hospital is neat and well-equipped.

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'': "Dr." Spaceman is a bad enough doctor that he is legally required to put quotation marks around his "doctor" title.

** Viktor Vektor, [[PlayerCharacter V]]'s ripperdoc, operates from a back-alley basement in the back of an esoterica shop. He zig-zags the trope due to being an actually trained medical professional with an excellent bedside manner. He could easily work in a more legitimate clinic, but that would involve signing up with the [[EvilInc Arasaka corporation]] running [[ViceCity Night City]], and Viktor [[DefectorFromDecadence isn't about that]].

If more skilled, the Back Alley Doctor may provide plastic surgery as a means to hide an outlaw character's identity. Can cross with OpenHeartDentistry if one of the reasons he's not a doctor is that he was trained in a completely different medical field; veterinarians working on humans is a common occurrence. Horse vets operating on woundef gangsters is practically a trope in and of itself due to the established links between organized crime and horse racing.

A surgeon with medical credentials that are... less than ideal. This could be for any number of reasons, from the surgeon having his license revoked, to actually being denied one in the first place, or (if you're lucky) [[WorthlessForeignDegree he simply got it in the wrong country.]] One or more patients in the past may have died on his operating table due to improper procedures, mistakes, or lack of proper sanitation. Chances are they still do. Even so, he still gets a lot of business, simply because he never asks any questions. He does, however, expect you to do the same.

The Back Alley Doctor typically operates in a dimly lit, grungy, back-alley office, complete with nightmarish surgical tools which may or may not have been recently cleaned. Sterilization is optional, often involving cigarette lighters, hot plates, or that bottle of whiskey he's been [[QuickNip sipping on]] all day, including during the surgery. The whiskey is likely to double as a painkiller and is safer than any pills he may have on hand. For ''really'' bad cases see ComicallyIneptHealing.

He's often the only medical recourse available to criminals, who may make up his entire clientele, due to legitimate doctors having to report gunshot wounds and other wounds inflicted by violence to the police. A Back Alley Doctor funded by organized crime might have as good or better equipment and practices than a legit doctor.

On the other hand, he may feature in a {{Dystopia}} where he fell afoul of the ObstructiveBureaucrat at best. His poverty may be the only problem in getting the best in medical treatment -- well, that and the danger of getting busted. In settings where abortion is illegal, [[AbortionFalloutDrama women may turn to this doctor]] (unless they are [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney incredibly wealthy]]).

If more skilled, the Back Alley Doctor may provide plastic surgery as a means to hide the character's identity. Can cross with OpenHeartDentistry if one of the reasons he's not a doctor is that he was trained in a completely different medical field; veterinarians working on humans is a common occurrence. Horse vets operating on gangsters is practically a trope in and of itself due to the established links between organized crime and horse racing.

Undoubtedly TruthInTelevision. May result in ComicallyIneptHealing.

* ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'': This being set in the same universe as ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', it should be no surprise ripperdocs still function as this. Special mention should go to "Doc", David's ripper whose "office" is filthy and has dried blood in several spots, plus the chair he performs operations on (in addition to having a bite bar) is the same one he masturbates on to his [=BDs=] and personal pleasure machine in his free time. At the very least, he ''does'' point out he's not a licensed physician multiple times to the Edgerunner crew, not that it stops David from continuing to come back to him for chroming up and meds. [[spoiler:He even warns David that his overuse of chrome is going to catch up to him, high cyberware tolerance or not.]]