By Josh Katzowitz, WCI Content Director

So many times when I’ve been talking to a doctor (whether we’re out with friends or meeting new physicians at WCICON), the conversation can transform into a festival of self-depreciation.

“I was such a nerd in high school,” they might say.

“Me and my friends were so uncool,” others would state in a grammatically unfriendly way.

“I’m such a dork,” some might snort.

“I definitely was not part of the cool kids' clique,” others would alliteratively bloviate.

And though these days it’s much cooler to be a nerd than it was back in my day, I imagine that being a member of the geekdom probably didn’t always feel so good.

So, I decided: in my column today, let's celebrate the coolness of doctors. Despite how annoyingly smart they were when acing their AP classes or how much D&D they played or how many swirlies they might have experienced in middle school or how many times they were given an atomic wedgie in the locker room or how often they wore their New Kids on the Block gear when NKOTB had long passed their expiration date, physicians are some of the coolest people on the planet.

And yes, I have proof.

 

Examples of Doctors Being Totally Cool 

Let’s imitate the standup comedic styles of Jeff Foxworthy and say, “You know a doctor is really cool when . . . ”

 

Adele Cries with Joy When She Sees You

If Adele thinks you’re cool and is forced TO STOP MID-SONG when she spots you in the middle of her show, then you’re pretty damn cool. Which means Dr. Colin is freakin’ awesome.

@much

A precious moment between Adele and her doctor🥺 [via @adele]

♬ original sound – MuchMusic

While singing “When We Were Young,” during a 2023 concert in Las Vegas, Adele saw the man who delivered her child 11 years earlier. While I haven’t found the doctor’s full name, aside from Adele saying it was “Colin,” she gave additional details about the encounter in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter a couple of months later.

“I hadn’t seen him, my doctor, since my son was 4 days old,” she said. “It was the most surreal experience of my life. As all my friends are trying for babies. I realized how it’s actually not as easy as everyone thinks to have a baby. I’d been thinking about it so much recently, I got his number the next day, and I texted him. I never really understood how lucky you can be to have a baby. And I didn’t understand the magnitude of him not only bringing my child safely into the world but keeping me safe in it. This will make me cry. It was so emotional.”

 

She then actually began to cry during the interview.

“I had no idea he was there,” she said. “His daughter was next to him, and she had a sign. And you’re not supposed to bring signs in, and people keep sneaking them in. That’s my choice, because I’ll read them while I’m singing and then I’ll forget my words to my songs, so it’s not because it’s obstructing views. So, as I was walking around past the booths, I saw this girl, and I just looked at the sign and nodded. And then I saw the name of who was her dad. And then I looked next to her and he was there. Oh, yeah, I cried for a week after this.”

I suppose there aren’t a ton of patients who will tear up in happiness and joy when they see their physician out in the real world, but if you can manage that, like Dr. Colin, you’re as rad as can be.

 

You Dominate at Jeopardy

I doubt Jeopardy was ever the hippest show to watch, but there’s a reason it’s been on the air for 60 years. And if you happen to win a game or two, well, you’re a hepcat for life.

Just like Dr. Amy Hummel, who won it five times in 2024.

Hummel watched Jeopardy as a kid (and her parents are still consistent viewers), but after she originally applied to be on the show and was given the offer to do so, she had to turn it down because of the rigors of her residency program and because she couldn’t get coverage for her shifts.

When the ER doc finally got invited back to the show, she won five games taped over two days.

“It was really exhausting, honestly,” Hummel told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It was kind of a blur between each one, especially as they kept rolling on.”

But Hummel is a doctor who knows what it’s like to be exhausted and still have to perform. And in this case, it netted her about $100,000 in prize money over the 48-hour span.

Like Trent and Sue in the movie Swingers would say, she was so money.

 

You Turn Personal Pain into a Way to Help Others

Say this for Iain Forrest: he’s going to turn a negative into a positive.

The medical student who also happens to be an electric cellist who busks in the New York City subway was attacked by a woman in February 2024. As he performed, the woman watched him, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, she picked up his metal water bottle and clobbered him in the back of the head.

After that unprovoked attack, Forrest, whose stage name is Eyeglasses, formed a coalition that will create safer environments for musicians who perform in public areas. You can find out more information on Subway Performers Advocacy Group here.

“There’s definitely a level of wariness and caution that you have to have when you’re operating in such a public and potentially dangerous situation,” Forrest said, via NBC News. “That’s why we started this program . . . to try to call for more safe conditions for these performers in the subway, who are all too often attacked and harassed. That way we try to make it a safer and more enjoyable experience for everybody.”

 

You (Literally) Skate Your Way into Retirement

How do you want to head into retirement after a long, satisfying career in medicine? How about roller skating your way into your post-career life? That’s what ER doc Dr. Phil Masterson did on his last day of practice, tying on his skates and sailing around the office.

“I was trying to have some fun with my staff as I was retiring,” Masterson told Good Morning America. “I wanted to do something fun for them and something they didn't know that I could do.”

As the kids today might say, Masterson has got the rizz. But to me, he’s old-school groovy.

 

You Make All of Us Laugh

If you’ve never seen the show Hot Ones, where celebrities are interviewed while they eat some of the hottest chicken wings known to mankind, the Conan O’Brien episode is a good introduction. Actually, it’s probably not because, for my money, there’s never been a more hilarious episode of this show. Maybe start with a guest who’s a non-comedian who tries to get through an interview while their mouth burns and tears of agony roll down their face.

Anyway, if you did watch O’Brien’s episode, you probably remember that his personal doctor was on hand to make sure the comedian remained healthy during the taping. And Dr. Arroyo had some rather unconventional methods to help O’Brien through the pain of hundreds of thousands of Scoville units.

Actually, Dr. Arroyo isn’t a doctor. He’s two-time Emmy winner Jose Arroyo, one of O’Brien’s longtime comedy writers. But doctor or not, we all have been taught that laughter is the best medicine. And even non-Dr. Arroyo looks fairly cool when he’s checking Conan’s temperature by using a stethoscope on his tongue.

More information here:

Olympians Who Became Doctors 

The Director of One of This Summer’s Biggest Blockbuster Movies Was Originally an ER Doctor 

A Solemn Happy Anniversary to the Doctor Who Tried to Save the President’s Life 

 

Money Song of the Week

If I’m listening to ska music, I usually choose the third-wave punk-influenced groups that were categorized as ska-core—bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Voodoo Glow Skulls, and MU330. But if you’re going to slow down the tempo and give me a little more traditional Jamaica-influenced ska, I can dig that as well.

And that’s more what The Robustos were—a late 1990s band from Atlanta that was more influenced by jazz and soul music than punk. I saw the band live when I was a college freshman, and I later met the drummer and his family when I was a waiter during a summer vacation (nice guy, good tipper). I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for The Robustos, even though it only released two albums and broke up only a few years after the band was created.

Today, let’s listen to Big Spender, a tune that tells the tale of somebody who thinks they’re richer than they are—much to the annoyance of the “Big Man” who lent this person the money in the first place.

As Tonya Abernathy sings,

“You spend your money on a brand new suit/And when you need it, baby, you ain’t got no loot/You always go wild like you’ve got money to burn/When will you ever learn? . . .

“Big spender, big spender/You think you’re rich, but you’re just a pretender/Big spender, big spender/When will you ever learn?

“Big spender, big spender/You think you’re rich, but you’re just a pretender/Big spender, big spender/They’re going to break your neck.”

In essence, the lesson here is to be careful with your spending. Your financial independence (and maybe your physical health) depends on it.

More information here:

Every Money Song of the Week Ever Published

 

Tweet of the Week

There's plenty of good advice here.

What do you think? What other instances have you found of physicians being super cool? 

[EDITOR'S NOTE: For comments, complaints, suggestions, or plaudits, email Josh Katzowitz at [email protected].]