In a classic episode of Seinfeld, though that’s basically every episode of Seinfeld minus “The Heart Attack” (LET’S FIGHT), Kramer and Mickey get an acting gig pretending to be bacterial meningitis and gonorrhea, respectively, for the benefit of medical students at a local hospital. It’s real-life job, one that retiree Jim Malloy has been doing for years at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. It also saved his life.
While doing the exam, [UVA medical student Ryan] Jones realized his fake patient actually had the ailment.
“I said, ‘I think I found an aneurism’ and he played along because that’s his job and so I’m like: Does he actually know he has this?” Jones said.
He didn’t, went into surgery a few days later, and will survive. (Via)
“Our eyes met across the crowded hospital room. I, a doctor, and he, an actor pretending to have a disease. Oh, I pursued and he withdrew, then he pursued and I withdrew, and so we danced. I was bursting to find out what was wrong with him, much like the bursting of his abdominal aortas if I hadn’t diagnosed him.”