Doctors of mirth

doi:10.1136/bmj.c4046

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James Owen Drife, emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, Leeds

J.O.Drife{at}leeds.ac.uk

A sense of humour was never the leading prerequisite for a medical career, but now it has slipped off the list completely. Interviews for medical school have become earnest, scripted affairs, and the days of hospital revues are long gone. Soon postgraduate centres will have notices like those at airports, warning that if you make a joke you will be arrested.

Doctors used to enjoy a bit of fun, but you have to go back a long way to find …