Assignment 1 blog post 1

 Hi everyone! My name is Matthew. I'm a freshman majoring in biomedical engineering from Phoenix, AZ. The move I chose to do for my first writing project is Patch Adams. In the movie, Patch, played by Robin Williams, suffers from depression and admits himself to a mental hospital. As he interacts with the other patients at the hospital, he realizes that he wants to become a doctor to help people. He enrolls in medical school, and while he is there, he fights against the rigid system in the of medicine in the 1970s in which the doctor and patient has no connection whatsoever. Patch attempts to fight against this system by establishing a personal connection with patients and using laughter as a form of therapy, much to the disdain of his superiors. 

Here, Dr. Patch is portrayed with a clown nose. Throughout the move, Patch is portrayed as genuinely kind and selfless. He truly desires nothing more than to help his patients. While he seems unorthodox at first, all of the other characters grow to love Patch due to his contagious humor and friendliness. Patch is shown to be successful at demonstrating to the medical community the need for kindness and empathy in healthcare.

Carin, Patch's fellow medical student and eventual romantic partner, is one of the few women in the medical school that Patch attends. At first, she is very aloof and almost rude due to her mistrust towards men caused by past trauma; however, Patch helps her to open up, and she becomes extremely caring and helpful.

Mitch is Patch's roommate. In the movie, Mitch exaggerates all of the stereotypes associated with a medical student. He is very self-absorbed, conceited, and competitive. He feels very threatened by Patch because he earns higher grades than Mitch does. However, he also eventually becomes sympathetic to Patch and his methods.

Dean Walcott is the embodiment of the medical establishment. He shows nearly no emotion at all and believes very strongly in a textbook approach to medicine as well as the idea that a doctor should be like a "god" to the patient. This leads to many conflicts with Patch in which he attempts to expel him from medical school more than once.

In my essay, I plan to focus on these four characters and how they demonstrate changes that were occurring in the medical community at the time that the movie takes place.