Patch Adams is a comedy based on the true story of a compassionate but outrageous medical student who risks his career by defying the medical profession with his unwavering belief that laughter is contagious.

Inspired to become a doctor while institutionalized for depression as a teenager, Patch Adams attended the Medical College of Virginia in the late ’60s and early ’70s. After graduation, he formed the Gesundheit Institute, dedicated to a more connected, personalized approach to medicine.

Using unconventional methods and wacky surprises to ease patients’ anxiety and enhance their healing, Patch helped pioneer the then-startling idea that doctors should treat people, not just disease. Compassion, involvement and empathy, Patch holds, are as great a value to physicians as breakthrough medicines and technological advancements.