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Core IM | Internal Medicine Podcast

#52 Gallows Humor: At the Bedside Segment

47 min • 30 oktober 2019

House of God author, Samuel Shem and Prof Katharine Watson share thought-provoking takes on Gallows Humor. Laugh and listen to this captivating take on the different shades of humor in the day-to-day of medicine. Time Stamps

  • 02:33 Episode preview and Guest Introductions
  • 04:20 Definition of Gallows Humor
  • 07:25 Gallows Humor by Comedians vs Patients vs Physicians

The Good


  • 08:15 Benefits/Functions of Humor in General
  • 11:10 Connection
  • 13:07 Coping/Catharsis
  • 16:22 Resistance Against Oppression
  • 19:03 Humor as our Authenticity/Humanity

The Bad, The Ugly


  • 21:01 Unintended Audiences (e.g., patients, families)
  • 25:30 “Corporeal” Joking
  • 28:00 Toxic Role Modeling
  • 31:10 Desensitization/Losing Empathy
  • Tips, Takeaways & Conclusion33:48 Challenging Inappropriate Jokes
  • 35:45 Excessive Gallows Humor: Signal of Distress?
  • 37:17 Using Gallows Humor: Questions to Ask Yourself
  • 38:40 Keeping the Faith!


  • 41:11 Excerpt from Man’s 4th Best Hospital by Samuel Shem

Transcript and References

Tag: medical humanities, medical ethics, CoreIM, IMCore



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