Preceptor Development Program (PDP)
Faculty Developer Discussions and Hints: Using Humor in Teaching
Sometimes the best technique for grabbing someone’s attention and
getting your message across is humor. A well-placed joke, the occasional
cartoon or the humorous anecdote can really help you reach your
audience.
What are good sources for medical or teaching related cartoons? Do
you have a good story that we can share with our preceptors? Please
share a bit of your humor with us… We can all use a good laugh from
time to time.
- John Langlois, MD, MAHEC Family Medicine Residency
Faculty
Here are a couple of resources I use for material to spice up talks.
- "Medical Wit and Wisdom: from Hippocrates to
Groucho Marx"
Compiled by Jess M. Brallier. 1993 Running Press Philadelphia
- "Medicine is the Best Laughter" Edited and compiled by Gideon Bosker,
MD 1995 Mosby, St.
- Diana Curran, MD, Community Preceptor
The 365 day desk-top calendars can provide humor every day.
"The Far-Side" is my favorite, but the Medical Bloopers is
pretty funny, too. Each day, my husband and I read the funnies in the
paper. Non-Sequiter has some very funny cartoons. I simply clip them
from the paper and put them into my "Humor in Medicine" file
for future reference. I find some very funny things from e-mail SPAM.
I figure if it makes me laugh, its worth the time. Patients like to
laugh, and it has healing benefits, too. So don't be stingy with your
smile.
Discussions
and Hints