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Running bit
NARD (Not a Real Doctor)
The hosts' self-deprecating badge of honor — NARD, 'Not A Real Doctor' — plus the merch, the honorary degrees, and the RARD counterpart.
NARD stands for “Not A Real Doctor.” Jason picked up the acronym from his friends Diane and Cat, and it became the show’s favorite piece of self-deprecation: a chiropractor and a physical therapist cheerfully owning the label that gatekeepers try to use as an insult. (“We’re both NARDs.”) It even shows up in the intro, and they semi-seriously float renaming the whole thing the NARD Podcast.
The bit has spawned:
- Merch — the NARD shirt, available in three colors (no occasion required).
- RARD — “Really A Real Doctor,” the honorific for MD/DO guests like Dr. Tyler Earley.
- Honorary NARD degrees — handed out to deserving non-clinician guests (Terri Garcia-Linares: “I’m now a NARD. Congratulations.”), and NARD shirts awarded as prizes in the on-air trivia games.
First seen in What Physical Therapists & Chiropractors Wish Physicians Understood.