Patch Adams

The movie "Patch Adams" is based on the true story of a man whose dream was to become a doctor so that he could help people. The movie starts with Patch admitting himself into a mental hospital because he is suicidal. While there, he discovers that he loves helping the other patients work through their problems. He leaves the hospital in order to fulfill this dream, and starts medical school two years later. Patch immediately makes an enemy of the dean, who is infuriated by Patch's clownish, unscholarly attitude. Patch interacts with patients at the hospital, despite the fact that only third- and fourth-years are allowed to do so. His belief is that the job of doctors is not merely to prolong life but to improve the quality of life. Because of this, he spends his time having fun with the children and fulfilling the last wishes of the older people. Though the dean insists that Patch stop visiting the hospital, Patch ignores him and merely becomes sneakier. At one point, the dean attempts to expel Patch from the medical school, but Patch appeals to the school's president and is excused. After he sees that many people struggle to pay hospital bills, Patch sets up a free hospital called the Gesundheit! Institute. At this institute not only are patients treated traditionally, but they are asked to help the other patients and enjoy themselves. Meanwhile, a romance has been budding between Patch and another student named Corinne. Sadly, soon after they fall in love a mentally ill patient kills her. After that, Patch decides that he no longer wants to be a doctor or part of the Gesundheit! Institute, believing that if it were not for him Corinne would be alive. After an eye-opening encounter with a butterfly, Patch goes back and starts to improve the lives of patients again. He is expelled for practicing medicine without a license, but after a moving testimony the board decides to let him stay in school. Eventually, he graduates with his usual joking attitude and continues to run the Gesundheit! Institute, inspiring many other doctors to join his cause.

Patch Adams teaches us a lesson that we should all remember. In the beginning of the movie, Patch admits that he is suicidal, and later explains that he became suicidal whenever he was serious. He found that in order to be happy, he needed to have fun and help others have fun, as well. Most people are not like Patch and can be perfectly happy and serious at the same time. However, what he went through reminds us that it is good to not be serious all of the time. Patch used his problems to help others: because he knew what the patients were going through, he understood that they wanted to enjoy life and not just prolong it. Nearly all of the other students and the doctors disliked what Patch was doing; they believed that distance should be kept between the doctors and patients. However, Patch turned that theory on its head when the people he worked with became happier and more peaceful. He completely reworked the social boundaries between the doctors and patients. We also should remember to not always take life so seriously; we need to take time out of our schedules and have fun for sanity's sake. Like Patch, we can use the problems that we have faced in life to help others get through the same problems. "Patch Adams" helps us to remember that it is a joy to help others become happy, and that the way we act affects the lives of others around us and ourselves.