Amy Hummel, MD

EDUCATION

Undergraduate: St. Olaf College
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Residency: University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics

Dr. Amy Hummel currently practices as a community-based emergency physician in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In April/May 2024, Dr. Hummel won a five-game streak on “Jeopardy!” and went on to compete in the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions in January/February 2025. Dr. Hummel answered a few questions about her experience on the show below:

Q: How did you prepare for your first and second appearances on the show?
A: My former residency colleague and fellow “Jeopardy!” champion Dr. Morgan Wilbanks shared an Anki deck that had about 300,000 prior “Jeopardy!” clues. I mostly used that and just watched the show and pretended to buzz in to prepare.

Q: What are your favorite “Jeopardy!” categories to answer?
A: I like the history and science categories the best! I usually like anatomy ones, but sometimes I overthink them, like being a doctor means I know too much to figure it out. Also, I was always nervous that I’d miss a silly medicine question and look
bad on TV.

Q: As a “Jeopardy!” Champion, have any patients recognized you?
A: Yes, I have had several patients recognize me unprompted, which is fun. But sometimes they get excited talking about the show, so I have to steer the conversation back to why they are visiting the emergency department. As a physician, my foremost priority is to help my patients.

Q: Have you encountered any challenges in your time on the show that surprised you?
A: The only real challenge was taping promos for the Tournament of Champions and having to read off a teleprompter. It’s way harder than it looks!

Q: Is Ken Jennings as nice as he seems?
A: Ken Jennings is so nice!! And actually very funny. You don’t get to hear the behind the scenes conversations, but he had some good quips. And he said his favorite fast food burger is Culver’s!