With regular stories about delays and staff shortages in the news , it might seem like there's not much to laugh about in the NHS. But a number of doctors are hoping laughter can be the best medicine with their own comedy shows at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.
Humor and absurdity can often spring from unexpected and stressful places, including hospital emergency departments. The connection between medicine and comedy was made by doctors turned comedians like Harry Hill, Paul Sinha and Adam Kay.
Here are four doctors who exchanged The Operating Room for Comedy Theater in Edinburgh talks about finding the lighter side of working in the NHS, and how being part-time stand-up comedians helps them cope.
'Laughter is a reminder that there is life'
Intensive care doctor Stefania Licari recalls a recent case where she had to persuade a patient not to come out.
"He would have died if he hadn't stayed and received the medicine," she says . "I had a long conversation with him. And I don't think I was able to convince him until I made a joke. He laughed, and you could see his energy change. That laugh allowed him to gain confidence."
The patient stayed, and the ability to break hospital tension with humor - at the right time - was often d a big help, says Licari.
"Doctors, nurses, colleagues and sometimes patients - when conscious - would simply feel better if you were a little lighter and making jokes," she says. "I think it's crucial.
"Obviously you have to put it in context and sometimes it's a timi...
With regular stories about delays and staff shortages in the news , it might seem like there's not much to laugh about in the NHS. But a number of doctors are hoping laughter can be the best medicine with their own comedy shows at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.
Humor and absurdity can often spring from unexpected and stressful places, including hospital emergency departments. The connection between medicine and comedy was made by doctors turned comedians like Harry Hill, Paul Sinha and Adam Kay.
Here are four doctors who exchanged The Operating Room for Comedy Theater in Edinburgh talks about finding the lighter side of working in the NHS, and how being part-time stand-up comedians helps them cope.
'Laughter is a reminder that there is life'
Intensive care doctor Stefania Licari recalls a recent case where she had to persuade a patient not to come out.
"He would have died if he hadn't stayed and received the medicine," she says . "I had a long conversation with him. And I don't think I was able to convince him until I made a joke. He laughed, and you could see his energy change. That laugh allowed him to gain confidence."
The patient stayed, and the ability to break hospital tension with humor - at the right time - was often d a big help, says Licari.
"Doctors, nurses, colleagues and sometimes patients - when conscious - would simply feel better if you were a little lighter and making jokes," she says. "I think it's crucial.
"Obviously you have to put it in context and sometimes it's a timi...
Image source, Boris Mitkov
