Medicine is a profession that requires a long growth cycle. It often takes decades for medical students to evolve into senior experts. Doctors have to read hundreds of books and numerous clinical guidelines, gradually maturing into seasoned physicians step by step. So, is their journey really just tedious learning? Obviously not. Next, let’s dive into the hilarious growth stories of junior doctors.
PART 01
Mentor-Mentee "Love-Hate" Relationships: These Banter-filled Daily Moments Will Make You Laugh (and Nod in Recognition)
The interactions between medical students and their mentors are full of side-splitting "classic scenes." After interviewing many students, we’ve picked some funny anecdotes – those who’ve been there will instantly relate!
01
Student: "Teacher, what are your hobbies?"Mentor: "Reading papers, revising papers, writing papers."
02
Student: "Teacher, do you have any regrets?"Mentor: "Accepting you as my student is the only impulsive decision I’ve ever made."
03
Student: "It’s easy to become your student."Mentor: "How easy?"Student: "Sorry, teacher, typo – I meant it’s an honor."Mentor: "Be careful. Attention to detail is even more crucial in academia."
04
Mentor (following up on experiment progress): "How’s the experiment going? Any data yet?"Student (mind drawing a blank): "Almost, old rat (laoshu)."Mentor (confused): "?"Student (quickly correcting): "Sorry, old teacher (laoshi)! I’ve been burning the midnight oil on experiments and my mind’s fuzzy."Mentor (teasing): "I can tell – I’ve turned into a mummy (ganshi) now."
05
Mentor (skimming the student’s paper): "You plagiarized quite a bit here, didn’t you?"Student (shocked): "How did you know, teacher?"Mentor (helpless): "It’s my master’s thesis."
06
Student (leaning in): "Teacher, among all the applicants, why did you have the foresight to choose me?"Mentor (fighting back laughter): "Is there a possibility that you were grinning from ear to ear and looked easy to ‘fool’?"
07
Student (asking again): "Teacher, what do you think of my research abilities?"Mentor (euphemistically): "Your research is very ‘pure’ – not a single trace of progress."
08
Student (nervously): "Teacher, have you read my paper?"Mentor: "Fortunately, I have."Student (hurriedly): "Well?"Mentor: "It poses no threat to the academic community whatsoever."
09
Mentor (showing sympathy): "Xiao Li, you’ve been working hard lately."Student (a slip of the tongue): "It’s okay, teacher – I deserve it (huogai)."
10
Student (complaining about job hunting): "Teacher, it’s so hard to find a job these days."Mentor (suggesting): "How about pursuing a PhD?"Student (refusing): "No way! If I do, I’ll never find a partner."Mentor (taking a dig): "A PhD would ruin your love life? As if you’d find one without it."
11
Student (excitedly): "Teacher, I added your name in the acknowledgments!"Mentor (哭笑不得): "This isn’t an acknowledgment – it’s a frame-up."
PART 02
Junior Doctors Navigate Clinical Practice: How "Wild" Can Doctor-Patient Conversations Get?
For junior doctors fresh out of school, the first task in clinical practice is taking medical histories and writing case notes. But when they actually face patients, they realize "communication" is far harder than what’s taught in textbooks.
01
Junior Doctor (patiently): "Auntie, do you have any past medical history?"Patient (waving it off): "Oh, that’s all in the past – why bring it up?"
02
Patient (holding medication): "Doctor, I used to take this medicine every 12 hours, but today I want to take it every 8 hours."Junior Doctor (hurriedly stopping them): "You can’t do that! Why?"Patient (confidently): "I want to catch the illness off guard."Junior Doctor (amused and exasperated): "Then why not take the whole bottle? Go for full coverage."
03
Patient (describing symptoms): "Doctor, I’ve had stomach pain, burping, and nausea lately."Junior Doctor (asking about triggers): "Do you drink alcohol?"Patient (standing up immediately): "Now? Let’s go!"
04
Junior Doctor (in the anorectal department, looking at the patient): "Did you come here last year?"Patient (surprised): "Yes! You remembered me?"Junior Doctor (honestly): "Not by your name, but by your buttocks."
05
Junior Doctor (on night shift, panicking while calling): "Teacher, Patient 15 has stomach pain!"Senior Doctor (calmly): "Give them 654-2." (Note: Anisodamine, commonly used to relieve gastrointestinal spasms and abdominal pain)A while later...Junior Doctor (calling again): "Teacher, I called 654-2, but they said it’s not their responsibility and told me to contact my own supervisor."
06
Another time, taking a medical history...Junior Doctor (extra cautiously): "Auntie, is your spouse in good health?"Patient (smirking): "Dead."Junior Doctor (quickly checking "widowed" on the case note). After the patient left, her daughter chased over: "Doctor, my dad is still alive – they’re just divorced."
PART 03
Hilarious Moments That Leave Junior Doctors Speechless: Stories from Night Shifts, Clinics, and Operating Tables
Night shifts, clinics, and operating tables – the places where junior doctors spend most of their time – are also filled with hilarious true stories that will make you "laugh till you cry."
01
During a night shift, several adults rushed in with a crying child who had a dislocated shoulder.Junior Doctor: "How did this happen to the child?"Family Member (helplessly): "From dancing ‘Subject 3’." (Note: A popular viral dance)The junior doctor imagined the scene and couldn’t help laughing – then the family joined in, leaving only the dislocated child sobbing loudly.
02
A senior expert brought interns to the clinic and warned in advance: "When patients come in, nod if you know their condition, shake your head if you don’t."When a patient walked in, the interns circled them a few times, shaking their heads repeatedly.The patient panicked instantly, grabbed the professor’s hand, and cried: "Save me! I don’t want to die yet."
03
At school, a student asked curiously: "Teacher, where do our ‘general anatomy teachers’ (Note: A respectful term for donated cadavers used in medical teaching) come from?"Teacher (seriously): "Donated by family members."Student (continuing): "How much do they cost to buy?"Teacher (correcting sternly): "Buying and selling cadavers is illegal."At that moment, a voice suddenly echoed: "No buying, no killing." (A well-known public welfare slogan)
04
Before a surgery, an anesthesiologist with a heavy accent was administering epidural anesthesia to an aunt and leaned over to ask: "Jiao ma?" (Mandarin for "Is your foot numb?")The aunt didn’t respond.Thinking his voice was too soft, the anesthesiologist asked again: "Jiao ma?"Still no reply.The anesthesiologist raised his voice: "Speak up! Jiao ma?"The aunt finally replied: "——Ma ma (Mommy)."
In fact, these hilarious moments hide the most authentic growth of junior doctors: from nervous medical students staring at textbooks to clinical doctors who can handle all kinds of "emergencies," they accumulate knowledge through banter with mentors, learn tolerance in doctor-patient interactions, and take on responsibilities amid the busyness of night shifts. Every "wild" story is a mark of their journey toward becoming "good doctors."
Author Bio
Editor: Lily