Med students study ‘Seinfeld’ characters

Associated Press

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.

“Seinfeld” may have been a show about nothing, but a psychiatry professor is using it for much more than that.

Medical students at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School are learning about psychiatric disorders through Dr. Anthony Tobia’s “Psy-feld” teaching tool, NJ.com reports.

Tobia has created a database of teaching points from all the show’s episodes. Third- and fourth-year medical students are assigned to watch two episodes a week and then gather to discuss the psychopathology demonstrated on each.

“You have a very diverse group of personality traits that are maladaptive on the individual level,” Tobia said. “When you get these friends together the dynamic is such that it literally creates a plot: Jerry’s obsessive compulsive traits combined with Kramer’s schizoid traits, with Elaine’s inability to forge meaningful relationships and with George being egocentric.”

His diagnosis of Newman? “Very sick.”

The students gathered around a conference table on a recent day, analyzing an episode from the night before. Third-year student Marlene Wang said that the exercise leads to having more practical and relatable examples than a textbook.