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Calendars come in all shapes and sizes...by the week, day, or month. And there's something for everyone: Fans of Escher, kittens, The Simpsons, outer space, rains, or Tweety Bird, animals, spam, or Elvis. And there are even calendars for people who work in medicine.
"Medical Bloopers", now in its tenth edition, features humorous anecdotes from healthcare workers around the world.
"One of our doctors at a precipitous delivery introduced himself as 'Dr. Smith at your cervix.' Without missing a beat, the patient replied, 'Dilated to meet you.'"
The idea for the calendar came from Evan Richmond, who worked in a hospital when he was a pre-med student.
"I've had a number say that it helps them keep perspective and to see the lighter side of their work, because most of the time everything is so serious. They need to be de-stressed at some point," Richmond says.
Medical resident Doctor Catherine Carvelli says humor is important in medicine.
"Definitely it's important," she says. "It's good for the doctors, for the staff, for the patients."
And she says medical humor transcends geographic boundaries.
"I've worked at different institutions in different states and I've actually worked in South America in hospitals as well, and medical humor is the same everywhere and medical knowledge is the same everywhere," she says.
Dr. Sona Aggarwal, another U.C.S.F. medical resident, says, "The bloopers? Yea, they're funny. You can relate them to what we do every day."
And while the humor may not appeal to everyone, it just might leave your doctor in stitches.
