SNL's "Medcast" Sketch Pitches a Brilliant Way of Getting Men to Go to the Doctor
What if talking to a doctor was way more of a vibe?
Sometimes Saturday Night Live makes a commercial parody for a fake product that makes you go, "They should make that, actually."
SNL's "Medcast" pretaped sketch premiered during the January 25, 2025 episode hosted by Timothée Chalamet, and it presented a new direction for medical care that's a pretty good idea (if a little impractical). Heidi Gardner plays a One Medical representative who explains the premise.
"At One Medical, our motto is healthcare for all, but one group was being left behind: Men aged 20 to 45," the rep says. "Compared to women, they're less likely to see a doctor, and more likely to seek medical advice from social media or podcasts. We knew we had to do better in order to reach these men. That's why we developed Medcast: the doctor's appointment that feels like a podcast."
Season 50 cast member Andrew Dismukes plays the goateed doctor who hosts it alongside Marcello Hernández and Ashley Padilla. "Recording" in an exam room disguised as a chill podcast studio, they welcome patients as if they're guests. That makes it way easier for the patients to answer questions like "How many drinks would you say you have in a week?"
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They've even developed tricks like calling the blood pressure cuff a "bicep measuring machine," and allowing the patient/guest to discuss whatever outlandish interests they have in order to distract them from, say, a prostate exam.
"Dude, I used to hate going to the doctor," says patient Dylan Dirks (Emil Wakim). "Medcast isn't like that. We just, like, vibe."
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SNL's "Medcast" was written by Martin Herlihy and Streeter Seidell
Medcast's guests patients (Kenan Thompson, James Austin Johnson, and Mikey Day) are so satisfied with the care they've received they're even willing to come back in approximately six months for a follow-up episode visit.
Despite one HIPAA-violating twist at the sketch's end, multiple people claiming to be medical professionals have piped up in the YouTube comments to say that yeah, this idea is not so crazy.
"As a hospital administrator, this is the definition of patient-centered care," one user wrote. "Whatever it takes to empower people to get primary and preventative services!"
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"As a physician who also has an accessible healthcare podcast, I feel so seen by this episode," wrote another. "Thanks SNL for your advocacy work in this space."
Hey, anything's better than googling your symptoms and being diagnosed with an incorrect AI summary!
Watch "Medcast" from Season 50, Episode 12 above, and stream any episode of SNL on Peacock.
