I’m a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings movies. I attribute this mainly to the brilliant story, beautiful cinematography, and the brooding sexiness of Viggo Mortensen. I loved the movies so much, in fact, that I sometimes brought the DVDs with me to watch on overnight hospital calls during residency. Between pager calls, I’d absorb Gandalf’s nuggets of wisdom and admire Aragorn’s…um…nobility of spirit.
It didn’t occur to me until much later that Lord of the Rings is actually a clever metaphor for medical residency. Here are some of the parallels I’ve noticed.
- One Ring = On Call Pager. It’s evil, onerous, gets heavier with time, and can’t be left behind. The person carrying it can’t eat, can’t sleep, and is constantly pursued by outside forces (either the Ringwraiths, or nurses who require them to sign restraint orders).
- Frodo = Intern. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo is the carefree, innocent youth who is suddenly burdened with the task of carrying the One Ring. In medical residency, the intern is the carefree, innocent youth who is suddenly burdened with the task of carrying the One Pager. In both cases, bad things follow.
- Sam = Senior Resident. Provides moral support and backup for the intern. And toward the end of LOTR, Sam actually has to step in and carry Frodo up Mt. Doom when Frodo succumbs to physical exhaustion.
- Gandalf = Their Attending Physician. In LOTR, Gandalf drops pearls of wisdom and provides leadership for the team. However, due to other responsibilities, he is separated from Frodo and Sam for a good portion of the trilogy. In medical residency, the Attending Physician drops pearls of wisdom and provides leadership for the team. However, due to other responsibilities, he/she is separated from the intern and senior resident for a good portion of each day.
As far as I know, J.R.R. Tolkien never went through medical training. But as you can see, he writes very convincingly about the process.
Can you think of any other parallels between Lord of the Rings and medical residency?
