But he didn’t get serious about trivia until medical school. He earned his medical-surgical degree in 1987 from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The following year, he completed a rotating hospital internship at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), and then his internship and residency in internal medicine in 1991 at UT Medical Center. That same year, he served as a senior fellow in the section of rheumatology at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, and between 1991 and 1992, he was a first-year fellow in rheumatology at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine (now called the Bowman Gray Center for Medical Education), Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Dr. Morris and his father, who was also a rheumatologist and trivia expert, usually watched Jeopardy! while on the phone together and tried to predict the Final Jeopardy answer based on the category. He says they would get the right response about twice a month.
All in the Wrist
During the last week of his rotating internship program at UCI, Dr. Morris took a day off work to try out as a contestant for Jeopardy! The show had been advertising for contestants, and its Hollywood studio was only an hour away.
More than 200,000 people each year try to earn a contestant spot, but only 400 to 500 are selected. Dr. Morris says roughly 50 other people showed up the day he tried out. They had to complete a written, 50-question test within 13 minutes. He remembers some of the questions, including: What was the name of the singer known as the Swedish Nightingale? (It was Jenny Lind.)
Dr. Morris and eight others moved on to the next step. They were divided into teams of three and played a practice game with handheld bells. If they knew the question, they were told to ring the bell on the last syllable of the last word of the answer. But if they rang the bell prematurely when actually competing, the bell would be deactivated for two-tenths of a second, minimizing their ability to win.
Out of the nine people, Dr. Morris and four others were chosen as contestants.
The show aired in September 1988. Although he didn’t win, the 15 minutes Dr. Morris spent competing on the nearly 60-year-old quiz show were among the most memorable of his life. Dr. Morris did receive an assortment of consolation prizes: a vacuum cleaner, toddler clothes, artificial nails, bags of rice, a $25 Dolly Madison gift certificate, and a recliner that still sits in his family room.
