The 40 Best Medical School Memes of 2020 (Awesome Med Student Jokes)

This is the definitive list of med school memes published over the course of 2020. As it’s been a heck of a year it’s time you treated yourself with a good laugh.

The following memes have been collected from around the web and curated by yours truly.

And yes, the COVID-19 pandemic is a popular theme!

You can use the contents to skip around the article, highlight the memes you like and share them. Please try and give the creators full attribution where possible!

Best Medical School Memes Of 2020

1.Thank You, Doctor

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u/NotTheBestBoi

Thought we’d start off positive with this one. Before things take a bit of a darker and depressing turn…

2. Next Year’s Batch of Med School Personal Statements…

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u/oncovirus

Maybe leave this off the personal statements next year huh? For the sake of standing out…

Related: What Are The Best Hobbies For A Med School Application?

3. I’m Just A Dentist

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u/tattirudi

2020 saw a growing trend for dentists everywhere to suddenly deny having any involvement with the healthcare industry.

4. Thanks For Your Hard Work

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u/ChillTheThrill

You’ll need to know what UFAPS is to appreciate this one. Basically? Being a med student isn’t rocket science. As long as you’ve got the right resources.

Related: UFAPS: The Only Thing You Need For Med School?

5. Sketchy Vs Textbooks

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u/Trollithecus007

Who needs textbooks when you have Sketchy Medicine?

6. Big Brain Immunology Meme

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u/SubZero-5E

Clever stuff. If you’ve got your immunology down you’ll get this one…

7. Zoom Anatomy

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u/ComitoonsTees

So glad I got anatomy out the way before this whole pandemic thing hit. Can’t imagine this being an actual reality!

Related: How to Study for Anatomy Practical (11 Best Ways)

8. Bacteria Then Vs Bacteria Now

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u/YBtheOutlaw

If you still have pharmacology and microbiology living fresh in the mind then you’ll appreciate this. Classic stuff.

Related: How to Survive Microbiology (5 Important Rules)

9. Med School Expectations

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u/efemorale

Seems about right. Don’t go into med school expecting you’re going to crush it. Despite this site’s best efforts to prepare you…

Related: Why Medical School Grades Don’t Matter

10. History Taking

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u/djone1904

We didn’t get to take too many histories of our patients in 2020. But for every few we did, there was at least a couple like this…

11. Krebs

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u/drhajtov

Biochemistry is basically just this. Krebs is the first to go, then soon the rest of it.

12. BIG Pharma

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u/LastNightsRadio

I’d love if this was how the pitch actually went. Either way, sometimes pharma companies luck out.

13. Study Hackz

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u/asparagustasty

One of my favorite med school study hacks but you have to be careful with it!

Related: How to Watch Lectures at Double Speed (Useful Med School Hacks)

14. July is Tough

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u/thisradlifeMD

July is the time when U.S. med students graduate and finally get to start their first full year as doctors (interns). Nurses, obviously, are on their toes ready for mistakes.

15. Why Do You Want To Do Medicine?

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u/famousshooter98

One of the awkward truths you should never admit nor put down on a med school application is the issue of money. But it is nice.

Related: Why Do You Want To Be A Doctor: Reddit’s Response

16. In Direct Contrast…

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u/froggynoch

Then there’s the other side of the coin; that junior doctors aren’t paid enough…

17. Hypochondria Is Real

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u/wulfrich

Medical school syndrome is real. Study enough horrible things and eventually you start thinking you’ve got them too.

Related: How to Avoid Medical School Syndrome: 5 Powerful Tips

18. A Dark Reminder

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u/chronicringe

Sadly not everyone agrees with conventional medicine. Or that vaccines can actually save you. Being a med student and having to listen to this? Not exactly fun…

19. The Road Is Long and Hard

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u/ilooshz

I definitely know this feeling; being the sibling who went into medicine in their 30’s!

Related: 10 Tips On Starting Medical School After 30

20. Plot Twist

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u/sladamania

Admittedly, I just liked this one because it was dark. A form of humour I can appreciate.

21. Nasty Pathogens

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u/bismuthboi

Another one you’re going to have to brush up on your microbiology or pathology to understand.

22. When You Accidentally Hit Your Stethoscope While It’s In Your Ears

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u/nerdyskeleton

This one is all in the title. Remember to take the ear pieces out first before you start wildly swinging the bell.

23. Pharma Headache

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u/eddie-the-doc

Anti-psychotics really aren’t fun. Give me antiarrythmics any day of the week.

24. Hammer and Sickle Cell

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u/23brabre

Anemia doesn’t quite work like this but it would be funny if it did!

25. Too Real

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u/clostrid_perfringens

It can be a lonely and depressing time. But remember to laugh. We’re all in this together…

Related: 8 Ways To Stop Feeling Overwhelmed In Medical School

26. Someone Profits

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u/PA1GR

Lack of personal protective equipment? Just use it again right?! No. Just no….

27. Happy Thanksgiving/Christmas!

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u/nerdanese

That time when you really want social distancing to be so far you don’t have to talk to anyone ever…

28. High Yield

[Meme] When the MDs are taught by the PhDs
u/myhumeruslife

What all those years learning and all those flashcards you smashed into your brain eventually amounts to…

29. Teaching Vs Reality

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u/hesselbachstriangle

Make sure the important questions get asked. Remember you’ll be reporting the history directly back.

After the patient dies…

30. When the Heart Failure Patient Comes In and Isn’t Taking His Diuretic

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u/sccrtmy135

These pants? Didn’t quite make it on the 2020 List of What to Wear During Clinical Rotations. Although I, for one, would have enjoyed them being there.

31. Pediatric Tricks

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u/BinaryPeach

If only it worked on patients of all ages…

32. Exams Make Us Human

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u/icedoutpatek

Everyone has high aspirations until they get kicked in the teeth by their first set of med school exams.

Related: How to Focus For Studying For Exams

33. The Step Score I Want Vs The Step Score I Have…

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u/papayaherder

Maybe should have hit Zanki harder and kept the faith.

Related: What Is The Best Anki Deck for Step 1?

34. Effective Testing

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u/bewilderedalbatross

Basically what it came down to. Please roll out the vaccine soon 2021. I don’t want these memes to repeat…

35. Basic Knowledge

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u/pudding82

Sometimes Google isn’t your friend. Not when it comes to anatomy 101. Where did you go to med school? Eastern Europe?

Related: Is Medical School Easier in Europe?

36. Not All Heroes Wear Capes…

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u/MrMassador

Send a med student home early and they’ll forever be in your debt…

37. Speed Hack Fail

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u/AtLeastImADoc

Remember when I told you all not to skip lectures or to speed up your med school lectures? No, me neither…

38. Don’t Upset the Liver

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u/BlackLight3000

The awkward yeti made plenty of amazing memes in 2020. Choledochlithiasis? No thanks..

39. Just Draw It Out Bro

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u/croatiankiwi73

So much of med school is capable of drawing us to tears. Intrinsic and extrinsic cascade pathways are just one of them…

40. When You Gotta Go Back Round…

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If there’s one thing you remember in anatomy it’s the weird route of the recurrent laryngeal nerve.

Medlife Crisis did a really fun video on this back in 2019…

Final Thoughts On The Best Medical School Memes Of 2020

I hope you enjoyed 2020’s medical student and medical school-related memes! I’m already looking forward to next years.

If you enjoyed these memes make sure you check out some of these posts too.

Thanks for reading!

Image Credit – @augustinfernandez at Unsplash