Lisa Cuddy practiced endocrinology before becoming an administrator on House M.D.
Cuddy is the dean of medicine and hospital administrator at Princeton-Plainsboro, while also being a physician trained in endocrinology. Endocrinology focuses on hormones, glands, metabolism, and related disorders such as diabetes and thyroid disease.
Her medical background helps explain why she can challenge House on clinical and ethical questions even though her administrative responsibilities occupy much of her time. The series frequently places her between House’s diagnostic ambitions and the hospital’s legal, financial, and professional demands.
Cuddy is played by Lisa Edelstein. The character’s specialty is easy to confuse with internal medicine because endocrinology is a subspecialty of internal medicine, but the show specifically identifies Cuddy as an endocrinologist.