Also known as: Pink eye
Brief comedic mention of Dr. Kim diagnosing pink eye while making a patient unnecessarily remove their pants, used to illustrate quirky hospital routines.
Also known as: Alcohol poisoning
Dr. Cox shows up to work intoxicated following the traumatic loss of three patients due to a medical decision he made. This drives the episode's central conflict about his depression and eventual recovery.
Also known as: Depression
Dr. Cox experiences severe depression after three patients died following his medical decision. The episode centers on his colleagues rallying to help him through this crisis, with him eventually beginning to recover by episode's end.
Also known as: Mild traumatic brain injury
Turk sustains a mild concussion when J.D. accidentally hits him with a wrench while trying to help him cry to impress his new attending. Used for comedic effect in the subplot about Turk's difficult new supervisor.
Also known as: Munchausen syndrome by proxy
J.D. evaluates a sick child and must rule out Munchausen syndrome by proxy, where a parent intentionally harms their child for attention. This leads to an awkward public service announcement parody.
A patient requiring major knee reconstruction surgery that Dr. Stone uses as an opportunity to exclude Turk after overhearing his insensitive comments, driving the Turk-Dr. Stone subplot.