Physician Humor Thyself: An Analysis of Doctor Jokes

Abstract

Physician Humor Thyself- An Analysis of Doctor Jokes. By Che Prasad. (WinstonSalem, North Carolina: Harbinger Medical Press, 1998. 119 pp., Foreword by Alan Dundes, $12.95, paper) In Physician Humor Thyself, Che Prasad offers an analysis of medical humor that focuses strictly on the jokes that circulate within the medical community. Currently a resident in clinical pathology at the University of California, San Francisco, Prasad uses his experience and insight as a physician to clarify and analyze jokes frequently told within various areas of medicine including primary care, surgery, and several sub-specialties. Following the introduction, each concise chapter of this extended essay highlights a specific area of medicine and provides numerous examples of related jokes, explanations of terms, and brief analyses. Prasad's functionalist approach describes how medical jokes and humor help physicians deal with the aspects of medicine the general population may be completely unaware of. For example, in chapter four, Prasad focuses on the humor surrounding surgery and surgeons. While surgeons are often equated with God by individuals outside of medicine, according to Prasad's analysis, this is not necessarily the case among doctors. A particular rivalry exists between surgeons and internists with surgeons often portrayed as being intellectually inferior (37): Internists know everything, but do nothing. Surgeons know nothing, but do everything. Psychiatrists know nothing and do nothing. Pathologists know everything and do everything, but too damn late (36). Although Prasad has viewed each area of medicine separately, in the Postscript, he connects each chapter with three general themes. First, each specialty has jokes that attack other specialties. One particular reason that Prasad offers for these attacks is an underlying need to protect one's own fear of inadequacy. Second, within the medical establishment there exists an understood code of silence that makes it difficult for physicians to openly criticize one another. Working on a daily basis with sickness and death, often under pressure with long hours, a physician's work environment can be quite stressful. jokes allow doctors to express their criticisms without singling out one particular physician, while still addressing some of these tensions. Finally, jokes allow patients to confront the imperfections, mistakes, and contradictions in medicine in a constructive manner. …