MudPhuds in popular culture

[Harlow]

Was just watching a really old episode of ER (Season 2, "Summer Run") and found this quote amusing:

Morganstern (William H Macy): Buncha MudPhuds...
Carter: MudPhuds?
Morganstern: MD-PhD...bench scientists doing research, running gels, chopping up DNA...northern blots, southern blots, western blots. Don't get me wrong, they're good people. They're smart people. But they couldn't diagnose a cold if it stood up and sneezed on them.

Obviously MD/PhD's are a bit abstruse for popular culture (even pop culture reflections of medicine), but anyone ever seen/heard any other references?

I know in the book _Doctors_ by Erich Segal (which is actually a quite entertaining piece of fiction about doctors who go through Harvard together), there's one character who already has his PhD before he gets to med school and ends up in research afterwards. Definitely painted as the cold, socially inept overachiever who no one likes .

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[Ariodant]

Well, if mudphuds can't diagnose a cold...how the heck did they get their MD?

 

[Harlow]

Well, if mudphuds can't diagnose a cold...how the heck did they get their MD?

Hmm, perhaps some of the hyperbole inherent in William H Macy's delivery got lost when I transcribed it.

 

[mdphdstudent1]

I remember that character. In later episodes he turns out to work for industry on a drug that has negative side effects, portraying him an evil, self-serving corporate type. So much for the McDreamy MD/PhD!

Good post topic. Are there other pop culture refs to mudfuds? TV shows typically portray either sexy MDs or adamant, persistent PhDs. I always thought there should be a show about PhD life, like Scrubs or ER, it's just that I don't think the majority would get the jokes.

 

[ecoli]

There's The Big Bang Theory, but that's about physics students. Still a good show though.

 

[gbwillner]

There's The Big Bang Theory, but that's about physics students. Still a good show though.

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you on that one....

It's just a bunch of stereotypical nerds with horrible and predictable jokes and one-liners.

 

[ecoli]

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you on that one....

It's just a bunch of stereotypical nerds with horrible and predictable jokes and one-liners.

eh, it's a stereotypical sitcom about physicists written by non-physicists. I wouldn't say it was horrible though. It definitely has its amusing moments, and references that only other nerds would probably pick up on.

 

[Picklesali]

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you on that one....

It's just a bunch of stereotypical nerds with horrible and predictable jokes and one-liners.

ditto that!
The worst part is that I saw a few episodes and quickly decided it was horrible .... then my mother calls me up to tell me that there's this new show I should watch, that it's hilarious and right up my alley!

 

[akademix]

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[Neuronix]

The psychiatrist girl was a mudphud? She was nice looking, except for that whole sleeping with multiple guys at the same time bit. Neither of them were MD/PhDs either. Can't a MD/PhD guy get some love

 

[magwi11]

Isn't Yang on Grey's Anatomy a mudphud? Not sure that we'd want her as our representative, but that would certainly be popular culture.

 

[BRCA1]

Yes, indeed, Yang is a MudPhud... I was intrigued by this so I looked at her "bio" on the show's website and found that her PhD was actually in atmospheric science. Who would have guessed?

 

[akademix]

lol @ atmospheric science....i feel like dey just drew names out of hats or went in alphabetical order or sumn to figure dat out...dats mad hilarious tho...

doctor: YANG CHEK DA PRESSURE

*yang looks at barometer*