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While most of us don’t really think about hospitals as funny places, it’s still, for many people, just a place where they work. In fact, in the US, it’s one of the most quickly growing employers. So just like every other sphere of human life, there are going to be folks making memes about it.

The “funny doctors” Instagram page is dedicated to hilarious memes about the trials and tribulations of working in medicine. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section down below.

#1

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#2

Image credits: marklewismd

#3

Image credits: funnydoctorss

People want to believe that hospital work is exactly like TV. In their fantasies, doctors race into rooms with fabulous hair and genius diagnoses, nurses crack wonderful jokes as they hang IV bags, and every crisis gets resolved in sixty minutes, just in time for a slow-motion walk down the hall to inspirational music.

The truth? Hospital hallways do not have dramatic lighting, inspirational music does not begin to play, and the nearest thing to a grand finale is when, after a few tries, the vending machine will accept your crumpled five-dollar bill.

#4

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#5

Image credits: waheedwazir73

#6

Image credits: funnydoctorss

One of the biggest misconceptions is that hospital staff spend their days in non-stop emergencies. While life-or-death crises do take place, much of the work involves paperwork. Mountains and mountains of paperwork. Entire forests have been decimated to the cause of forms that must be filled out in triplicate. There are also hours of waiting: waiting for labs, waiting for consults, waiting for a printer that’s been “jammed” since 2012. It is not the glamorous montage that people perceive.

#7

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#8

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#9

Image credits: CodeBluLOL

Another popular myth is that hospital workers know absolutely everything. Ask about a rare tropical parasite found in only three people in history, and people are surprised when the response is, “Let me check.” In reality, the phrase “I’ll look that up” is as vital a tool as a stethoscope.

#10

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#11

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#12

Image credits: funnydoctorss

Medicine changes constantly, and no one has the entire medical encyclopedia in their head. Google may not be an option on the hospital computers, but let’s just say “consulting the system” is a bit of a euphemism for the electronic alternative.

#13

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#14

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#15

Image credits: funnydoctorss

Then there’s the idea that all hospital employees are cool, calm, and collected every minute of every day. Of course, workers are trained to be calm, but a lot of times calm looks like gallows humor whispered around the break room at 3 a.m.

#16

Image credits: _Pa0la___

#17

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#18

Image credits: funnydoctorss

Or sprinting down the hallway to catch a patient who decided to “stretch their legs” while attached to half of the cardiology department. Sometimes calm is being able to nod gravely while a patient explains that they sustained their injury in “a dispute with a raccoon.”

#19

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#20

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#21

Image credits: DrNOMster

Patients, though, are not the only font of unpredictability. Hospitals themselves have an appetite for chaos. Lifts seem to have secret laws of their own. Alarms go off at random, screaming like the soundtrack of a sci-fi horror movie, to be switched off without comment.

#22

Image credits: haatemreda

#23

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#24

Image credits: funnydoctorss

The quest for pens is a constant endeavor: pens get sucked into a parallel universe, and the one left on the ward is always bent beyond recognition. If hospital TV shows were realistic, entire storylines would be devoted to finding a working thermometer.

#25

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#26

Image credits: equine__dentist

#27

Image credits: nadkarni_yash

And let’s not forget the food. People assume hospital cafeterias offer some sort of balanced, health-conscious cuisine. In reality, you’re more likely to find a suspicious casserole that looks the same on Monday as it does on Friday, or pizza that could double as construction material. Staff don’t eat because it’s gourmet, they eat because it’s there, and because lunch breaks are mythical creatures rumored to exist but rarely spotted in the wild.

#28

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#29

Image credits: funnydoctorss

#30

Image credits: funnydoctorss

So indeed, hospital life is heroic, rewarding, and sometimes just plain dramatic. Yet it is also full of absurdities that no medical drama could ever possibly capture, the caffeine-powered staff who haven’t had time to sit down in hours, the 2 a.m. debates about whether the vending machine snacks are a balanced diet, and the constant chorus of “has anyone seen my pen?” In the end, the misconceptions are humorous because the reality is messier, louder, and far more human, and that’s what gets hospitals functioning at all.