I get asked a lot about how to use humor in medicine without getting yourself into trouble. Let me show you an example…
First, watch this video
You can understand why this has almost a million likes. His set up, editing, and delivery are all really good (he’s an actor, btw). You get the joke and it’s a joke that is easily understood by the general public. However…
To health care workers and patients who have extensive experience in the health care system, this joke is problematic. It directs ridicule at the patient. You come to the conclusion that the patient is lying and that the doctor THINKS the patient is lying. This is not good.
I tackled the same “pain scale”topic a while back. Here it is.
I centered the joke on the pain scale itself. How arbitrary it can be. How pain can mean different things to different people. Sure, my version isn’t as widely understood by the general public, but it is safer and won’t risk further undermining the trust between patient & doctor
Now I don’t want this to come off as some kind of humblebrag. I have made PLENTY of mistakes doing comedy in medicine, but I’ve learned from them, and hopefully this helps people from making the same mistakes
Bottom line, if you have a role in patient care, you shouldn’t direct humor at patients. It doesn’t work. I love when HCWs use humor on social media, because it humanizes us, but we do have to be more thoughtful about the way we use it.
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