“Billy Medicine”
Docs head back to Medical School in the 90th annual Galens Smoker
For one weekend every year, the U-M Medical School’s hardworking and studious physicians-to-be let loose for an evening of singing, dancing, laughing and — perhaps most notably — mimicking their professors at the annual Galens Smoker. A 90-year tradition, the Smoker is a raucous comedic parody written, directed, produced, choreographed and performed by members of the Galens Medical Society, a community service and social organization of medical students that aims to bridge the gap between students and faculty.
This year’s Smoker production, “Billy Medicine,” took place March 7-8 at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre in the Michigan League. Galens members Sarah Carlson and Jason Bacha served as the “director-czars” and Andrew Bryan and Molly Pendergast were the “producer-czars.”
Based on the 1995 movie “Billy Madison” starring Adam Sandler, “Billy Medicine” centers around seven medical school professors who, it is discovered by the dean of student programs, never received their medical degrees. Instead of firing the imposters, she insists that they complete four years of medical study in the span of only four weeks. The shamed “docs” swallow their pride, break out the text books and head back to medical school. Just as they are nearing the end of their studies, a group of hard-nosed surgeons aided by a sneaky spy learns what they’re up to and threatens to have the group and the dean of students fired. Instead, the students challenge the spiteful surgeons to an “academic decathlon” winner-take-all challenge, hoping the knowledge they’ve gained will lead them to victory, and ultimately allow them to return to the faculty. The “Billy Medicine” program teases: “Will our heroes succeed? Will the surgeons squash their hopes? Will there be ridiculous song and dance?”
While it’s a longstanding tradition for Galens members to mimic and poke fun at Medical School faculty in the Smoker, every year they close of the final show by honoring one popular professor with the Silver Shovel Award. The award is bestowed upon a physician who demonstrates a significant commitment to and excellence in medical student teaching. This year, John Schmidt (M.D. 1998, Residency 2001), a clinical instructor in internal medicine and in pediatrics and communicable diseases, was dubbed “Knight of the Silver Shovel.”