Medical terms, explained

Plain-English explainers for the medical terms our episodes keep poking fun at, written in the same voice as the show. The jokes are ours; the facts underneath them are real and checked. Each one links to the episodes where the topic comes up.

• Prior authorization What is prior authorization? Your doctor says you need it. Your insurer says prove it. A fax machine says nothing at all. Welcome to the reason this show's tagline is “no prior authorization…
• AI scribes AI scribes, explained Your doctor used to type while you talked. Now an app listens, types, and occasionally decides you mentioned a pet iguana. What could possibly get lost in translation?
• AI chatbots and medical advice Can you trust an AI chatbot with medical questions? Our resident chatbot, Algo Chats-a-Lot III, recommends two bytes and a call in the morning. Real chatbots are more useful than that, and occasionally just as confident.
• Inguinal hernia What is an inguinal hernia? The most contested territory in the groin, subject of a three-part peace summit (Pax Inguinalis) and roughly a century of surgeons disagreeing politely at conferences.
• Laparoscopic surgery What is laparoscopic surgery? Operating through keyholes with very long chopsticks while watching TV. Dr. Leo Gordon blames ten famous physicists for the difficulties, none of whom agreed to it.
• Robotic surgery How does robotic surgery work? The robot doesn't operate on you. A surgeon does, from across the room, in what Dr. Gordon calls a high-tech romance gone digital. The robot just gets the credit on the…
• Gallstones Gallstones and gallbladder surgery, explained The official sport of Fourth and Gall, and the entire livelihood of the (fictional, hard-working) International Brotherhood of Biliary Tract Workers.
• Physician burnout What is physician burnout? In our entirely fictional telling, Freud's cure was stand-up comedy. The real causes are less funny, involve a lot more paperwork, and are surprisingly fixable.
• Transference What is transference in therapy? We called a therapy session like a football game. Transference is the play everyone in the booth is waiting for, and your mother is somehow on both teams.
• Caloric test What is the caloric test (ice water in the ear)? In The Iceman Cometh, a 1972 medical student is handed a bucket of ice water and told to find a brain tumor with it. Here's what the test actually does, and why the…
• Grand rounds What are grand rounds? Weekly hospital lectures where the coffee is lukewarm, the questions are hot, and the front row is reserved by an unwritten law older than the building. Dr. Gordon has…
• Care robots Robots in elder care: what they do and don't do Gerald has a 4.8-star rating and asks permission before every step. He still can't replace your Sunday visit, no matter how good his firmware gets.
• Psychoanalysis What is psychoanalysis? Lie down, say whatever comes to mind, and pay someone to wonder aloud why you mentioned your mother. For roughly 130 years, it has been the most expensive way to talk…
• Id, ego and superego What are the id, ego and superego? Freud divided your mind into three roommates: one who wants everything now, one who has read the lease, and one who keeps a list of your sins. They share a kitchen.
• Defense mechanisms What are defense mechanisms? The mind's security guards, working unpaid overtime to keep uncomfortable feelings out of the building. Some are sophisticated. Denial is not, but it's convinced it is.
• Psychosexual stages What are Freud's psychosexual stages? Freud's theory of childhood, in which every toddler is quietly negotiating a treaty with their own plumbing. It gave the world the phrase “anal-retentive,” which may be…
• Psychodynamic therapy vs CBT Psychodynamic therapy vs CBT: what's the difference? One asks why you feel this way and how it connects to your mother. The other hands you a worksheet and asks for it back by Thursday. Both work. Neither will let you skip…
• Psychiatrist vs psychologist vs therapist Psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist: who does what? Four job titles, three kinds of degrees, and one person on TikTok calling themselves a “healing guide.” A field guide to who can prescribe, who can test, and who just…
• Hedonic treadmill What is the hedonic treadmill? You bought the upgrade. For two glorious weeks, you were happier. Then it became normal, and the premium tier started looking pretty good. Science has a name for this…
• Therapy on social media Is TikTok therapy real therapy? Unpack your childhood in 30 seconds, set to a trending sound, then swipe up for a discount on a journal. It's the fastest therapy ever invented, and it has the outcomes…