Deborah Hemel (l.) and Nidhi Jain enjoy the perks of VC5000 in Cadavatar: Spoof 2010.
Two med students wistfully sing about their perfect ‘match’ (in this case, matching to a residency), only to be totally mismatched by a Harry Potter ‘sorting’ hat.
Another group of students lazily question the difficulty of medical school now that they have VC5000. With this new virtual curriculum – and thanks to Twitter, Facebook, Skype and trading patients on Craig’s List – they can get their degree without stepping inside a hospital!
Welcome to Cadavatar: Spoof 2010, a show of irreverent parodies about life in medical school.
A School of Medicine tradition that dates back 50 years, the annual show allows students to take a lighthearted look at medical school through comedic skits and musical numbers … and, in general, very little remains sacred. “We’re basically making fun of being a med student,” said Stacey Blanck, who took the lead for this year’s show with her best friend and fellow student, Lynne Doctor. “We spoof professors, residents, our classes, hospitals … everything.”
The annual show is truly a labor of love requiring hours of work. Med students write all the skits and lyrics, do the choreography, create the show’s program, perform in the show, and play in the band. “The week before the show, our run-throughs lasted from 5 to 11 pm,” Blanck said. “Lynne and I stayed up till 4 or 5 in the morning every day, making sure everything was ready.”
Now that Spoof 2010 is over, Stacey Blanck looks forward to her last couple months of relative relaxation before beginning her residency in internal medicine at HUP, while co-producer Lynne Doctor will head to the University of Cincinnati for a residency in vascular surgery.
