Dear Doctor Dysphoric:

Dear Doctor Dysphoric:

In the comments on the last post, you said "don't get sick in July." What are you talking about?

--Worried I may get sick in July


Dear Worried--

"Don't get sick in July" is a joke in the academic medical community. Not a very funny joke, actually. The academic medical calendar generally begins in July. Medical students, Housestaff (interns and residents), and new faculty are promoted. Former junior medical students become senior medical students. former senior medical students become new interns, former interns become new first year residents, and so on and so on. The upshot is that nobody knows how to do their new job. So we warn our loved ones not to get sick until August (or September, even better).

It is just a joke. Everybody in the hospital has supervision, of course. Except I am not supervising them because I am on leave. So maybe don't get sick in Northern Manhattan in July. Oh yes, it's OK, because Dr. Anhedonic will be there for you. If you need critical care, Dr. FEV1 will be there in the ICU. And Bugs and Drugs should be back from Poland any day now. Go ahead and get sick. We'll tell the medical students to stay away from Dear Doctor Dysphoric readers.

Both pics are courtesy of WHO. The pic on the left shows students and Housestaff on ward rounds in the hospital. On the right are medical students talking to women in the "women's ward."