Running bit
The Games
The show's defining ritual — every single episode ends with a game. 'We torture you for about 45 minutes so we can play a game.'
The single most reliable thing about the PTCH Podcast: every episode ends with a game. As Jason likes to frame it, “we torture you for about 45 minutes of real talk so that we can play a game” — the game is the reward, both for the hosts and for anyone who made it that far. The format shifts constantly, the rules are improvised about as often as they’re followed, and the scorekeeping is aspirational at best.
It’s less a segment than a covenant with the listener. The topic might be stretching, the placebo effect, or VA benefits — but you can count on Jason and Kathy (and whatever guest they’ve roped in) closing things out with something ridiculous.
Games we’ve played
- The Price Is Right — guess the price of rehab gadgets and gizmos. Raul has served as a recurring contestant.
- PTCH Podcast Mad Libs — fill-in-the-blanks chaos, anatomy edition.
- Doctor’s Orders — guess whether a piece of medical advice is real or made up.
- Trick or Treatment — Halloween-flavored real-vs-bogus treatment guessing.
- Balance Spelling Bee — spell while balancing; harder than it sounds.
- Bureaucracy — a game about navigating (and suffering) the healthcare system.
- Headbands — guess the word stuck to your forehead.
- Government Agency Origins Trivia — affectionately “GOAT with the A and O switched.”
- Name That Movie / Christmas Movie Trivia — holiday film quizzing.
- Jason’s Neato Trivia Quiz — exactly what it says on the tin.
- Vu Sports Trivia — sports trivia tailored for guest Dr. Liam Vu.
- PTCH Podcast Super Fan Trivia — how well do you actually know the show?
- Name That Code — guess the diagnosis from the ICD code.
- Fix It Like an ATC — athletic-trainer scenarios, played with guest Bryan Painter.
- Pitch or Pass — pitch a wild idea, decide if it survives (Joe Rogan episode).
- Spot the Real Massage Technique — real vs. fake bodywork, with guest Don Butzner.
- Weirdest Diagnoses — share and guess the strangest things they’ve seen.
New variations keep showing up, but the rule never changes: stick around to the end, and there’s always a game.