Starts with a B

[Martin Hash]

I went to Medical School late in life. You're called a “grandpa” by the other students if you're over 30 but they had no name for someone over 50; I was older than most of the instructors. What this really means, beside age-related difficulty in memorizing 10s of thousands of words, was that I came from a completely different age. My childhood was formed by Rock-N-Roll, Animal House and comedians like George Carlin. When I made a topical Pop culture reference, no one knew what I was talking about, I had to explain it, so nobody recognized how funny I was. That didn't stop me though.

Surprising as it may seem, I have a low opinion of the profession of medicine. I think I went in like that and nothing changed my mind, though there were certainly individuals who gained my admiration. Physicians are basically people who think too highly of themselves, are pretentious in all things, and have no sense of real humor. Let me provide an example:

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I was part of a 4 doctor team doing rounds when we came to patient in the third day of confusion. The Attending physician asked me, as junior member of the team, to do the cognitive exam. The patient was a late 30s, male, awake and alert, and this is important, his name was Bob. To anybody my age, the name Bob immediately brings to mind a very funny Cheech & Chong bit, “Let's Make a Dope Deal,” and this guy was perfect. I put my empathy face on, leaned over the patient, and asked the first question in the cognitive series.
“Could you tell me your name...” I couldn't help myself, “...Bob?”
Bob hesitated, looked confused.
“Come on, Bob,” I continued. “What's your name?”
I was sure the rest of my team had caught on by now, and I got into the rhythm.
“Starts with a B, Bob. Ends with a B. Come on, Bob, what's your name?”
There was no indication but I just knew the other doctors were silently laughing there asses off, except...
“Dr. Hash,” my attended interrupted, solemnly, “Please continue on with the exam.”
He didn't wink or anything.
Turns out, Bob didn't know what his name was, and unfortunately, the other doctors were too young to be familiar with the skit, so they didn't understand how clever I was either. Plus, doctors just don't have any sense of humor.

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[Ex-California]

I had no idea you became an MD so late in life.

That's amazing