There are two things Ive always wanted to do in life: I started out as an amateur performing stand-up comedy in Houston, TX to sparsely attended comedy club open mics. After all, you got an ophthalmologist to come in on a Saturday!, I've learned a lot about emergency medicine and the role you play in your communities, really acting as a safety net for society. Stephen Fry - introductions. But it is all just balls.. Subscribe to STAT+ for less than $2 per day, Unlimited access to essential biotech, medicine, and life sciences journalism, Subscribe to STAT+ for less than $2 per day, Unlimited access to the health care news and insights you need. By day, the 35-year-old cares for the eyeballs of Oregonians in his practice near Portland. Let's put an end of burnout. Flanary has loved medicine almost as long as he has loved making people laugh. "I've walked out of my home office into some very strange situations," Kristin says. Everything from social media to the patient experience to why cataract surgery isnt as bad as you think it is. "You had to be efficient, you had to have good jokes, and it was somewhat of an unforgiving audience, and you had to work at it. Private events across all areas of medicine. Flanary churns out original content every few days. It was a clarifying moment for Flanary as a creator, convincing him to ditch TikToks de rigueur music syncopation and embrace what he was good at: crafting characters and writing jokes. Thats why I love building this Glaucomflecken General Hospital of characters, Flanary told STAT. Despite coming close to death on more than one occasion, he constantly posts positive and hilarious videos to his TikTok account under the name Dr. Glaucomflecken, which has gained him morethan one million followers and more than 40 million likes. From $25.00. He was educated at Texas Tech University,[3] where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in cell and molecular biology. For Flanary, comedy comes naturally. Merchandise is in development, and hes plotting a way to translate what works on TikTok into a longer-form episodic format. Dr. Glaucomflecken will deliver the keynote address during EMS World Expo, Sept. 14-18, 2020. TikTok video from Dr. Glaucomflecken (@drglaucomflecken). The Night Telecommunicator-CPR Saved My Husbands Life, Lady Glaucomflecken Honored with American Heart Associations Resuscitation Champion Award, Power of Social Media with Family Medical Physician Dr. Mike. For nonmedical personnel, Flanarys videos give insight and a few tips in dealing with a world most only see from the patient side. And medical students are living in a special kind of hell, from match day to rotations. Ram Dinesh Sharan, Suno Mahabharat Devdutt Pattanaik ke Saath, Written by: Its my coping mechanism Sometimes thats all you can do, right? Cancel anytime. Koral Dasgupta. Ankur Warikoo, 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, Written by: Even as my pursuit of a medical career took me to the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in New Hampshire, I continued to do stand-up comedy when I wasnt learning the Krebs cycle or other things that med students learn that I dont really remember. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. They have one thing in common being mocked by Will Flanary, an ophthalmologist known to millions in the medical world as "Dr. Glaucomflecken," a term for a sign of glaucoma. Flanary says he never considered comedy a realistic career option. Im fortunate to have this nice job that gives me a nice living thats always there, he said. with the Glaucomfleckens. I may be old. It feels good to make people in medicine laugh, especially during a time right now during the pandemic when its hard for people to find things that make them smile, he said. It was a dark and empty chamber where no words were spoken or understood Those of us who have survived trauma need our healthcare providers to meet us in our Quiet Place. "You get that dopamine rush.". It was my coping mechanism. We dont spam! He sipped from his diet coke while showing off his skin-tight, belly-baring cycling jersey with matching bike helmet and sunglasses. The specificity is by design, Flanary said, giving his peers something to relate to and a growing audience of outsiders something to laugh at. Things patients do while waiting for the doctor | Take a nap | Play with expensive medical instruments | . There was an error saving your display name. This interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity. That has gotten a lot better, but it took a few weeks to get there. Written by: Flanarys escalating popularity is all the more notable because his jokes, delivered in short skits, plumb the inane depths of American health care. Hi. And we are happy youre here because uh, we have a wonderful []. He wore a portable defibrillator at first and eventually had one implanted. But everybody likes the TikTok where "Dr Daddy" Flanary in a red puffer jacket refers his 5-year-old daughter to debt collectors for failing to pay him for a $900 emergent splinter removal and Frozen Band-Aid application. "I went the much easier route of becoming a doctor." I can be pretty specific with different areas of medicine and create this world of, honestly, pretty dysfunctional people. Flanary is hardly alone among doctors with TikTok accounts. That combined dedication to learning the inside details of medicine while practicing the outsider art of satire might explain what makes Dr. Glaucomflecken work. These are things medical students have experienced, that residents have experienced its all relatable.. A: It went well. Once a month, just check yourself.'. Glaucomflecken alter ego began as a creative outlet to tell painfully specific ophthalmology jokes and to cope with my own health challenges. Benjamin Graham, Written by: Ive gone from cutting up in front of my 6th-grade classmates to delivering keynote addresses around the world and entertaining an audience of millions online. Hello and welcome to Knock-Knock. When you encounter someone like me in your workplace a family member, lay responders, the co-survivors remember our shared humanity and reach out to help.. Flanary said he wants his peers to see themselves in his satire, to come away feeling like somebody understands. But he also hopes poking fun at the profession might help nudge doctors away from what can be a monastic self-regard. Now, Will said he loves to bring others happiness through his viral videos. Flanary has also tweeted about the shortcomings of the American healthcare system and the need for more humor among physicians. In 2010, when he was 25 years old, Will was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Will Flanary, aka Dr. Glaucomflecken, at home in Portland, Ore. Aye Grsz for STAT Reprints W ill Flanary's days are spent conducting eye exams and cataract surgeries at a private practice. "He doesn't want people to feel bad for him, he doesn't want to wear his heart on his sleeve." "And then I remember getting to know him and going, 'Oh crap.' I've also learned that no matter what, none of you will ever learn how to use a slit lamp correctly., After the initial laughs, the Glaucomfleckens walked the audience through their incredible story. Another video depicts a patient agreeing without hesitation to a full body CT scan, lumbar puncture, colonoscopy, brain biopsy, and an experimental surgery where we replace your spleen with a second liver.. In them, he dresses up as different types of doctors and acts out funny and awkward made-up scenes between the doctor and a patient. A: Were kind of boring. Being funny was always meant to be a hobby rather than a vocation, but the surging popularity of Dr. Glaucomflecken has turned into a business in its own right. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Community Guidelines | KRDO Jobs | FCC Applications |, KRDO FCC Public File | KRDO FCC Applications, Breaking News Written by: Here, Dr. Flanary shares some of his experience. Related videos. If you are asking a question, don't forget to check the sub FAQs, or do a search of the sub to see if your question has been answered already.. Failure to follow rules may result in your post being removed, or a ban. Q: I see that you are frequently hired on Cameo ($249) to send messages usually congratulations on medical school acceptance but also for wedding anniversaries. A: When I started med school at Dartmouth, everyone was assigned a random adviser, and my adviser was an ophthalmologist. But he uses his platform as speaker and comedian Dr. Glaucomflecken (@DGlaucomflecken) to spotlight how CPR saves lives in emergencies. 'I noticed one morning that it felt like my testicle was trying to grow another testicle. But its funny.. I just dont know if I can trust you, Flanary the patient responds. I checked it out and it seemed perfect, Flanary said. That's where he met his wife, Kristin, now 36 and the communications manager for the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Iowa. Gaur Gopal Das. And I trust myself. To comment please, Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. TikTok doc makes physicians laugh at themselves. The health care system is laden with power dynamics, and patients are at the bottom, he said, so I should never be perceived as making fun of patients, because thats not going to go OK., When things get a little more complicated, what it comes down to for me is: Do I believe that my ridicule of something is justified? he said. A roundup of STAT's top stories of the day. Researchers are exploring how the brain helps prevent knee injuries, Even 3 mild concussions can cause cognitive problems, researchers say, Carolyn Hax: Boyfriends visits leave single mom with no time for herself, Miss Manners: What to do when a fellow diner was rude to server, medical students are living in a special kind of hell. [7], Since 2017, Flanary has raised money for the non-profit organization First Descents, which provides outdoor experiences to young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer. 1 credit a month to use on any title of your choiceyours to keep. For some reason, the powers that be thought it would be a good idea for my mom to teach her kid, who also happened to be the biggest class clown in school. KRDO NewsChannel 13 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. In closing, she asked the audience to pay attention to the families of patients, the ones who are walking through the trauma alongside them. His Dr. Glaucomflecken alter ego has been a balm, not only for his colleagues, patients, and a pandemic-weary public, but also for himself. Nikita Okhade, Written by: Fumitake Koga, Written by: But its a minority most people are just fine with it. A glaukomflecken is a change in the lens of the eye after an acute angle closure, whereas Dr Glaucomflecken is a social media sensation. At home, "it kind of felt like 50 First Dates for the first few days," Kristin says, as Will's memory improved. My Dr. Eleanor Cummins is a freelance journalist whose work runs the gamut of science. So the ophthalmologist, who moonlights as a comedian on social media, knows well the importance of laughter as a prescription for coping with bad news. Q: What did you learn about being a doctor from being a patient? William E. Flanary, M.D. "He's not very talkative, believe it or nothe's an introvert, he's pretty private, pretty independent," she says. I draw a lot on my experience from med school, and even though Im 10 years removed from med school, things dont really change theres always going to be the dynamic between surgery and anesthesia. The characters bounce off one another, either to illustrate some irksome aspect of medicine or simply to be the butt of a joke. New details emerge about a U.S. scientists obscured role in the CRISPR babies scandal, well-paid and under-worked ophthalmologists, We wish wed written that: STAT staffers share their favorite stories of 2022. I feel like I can just try these things and see where it takes me.. That's funny, but it's kind of my passion Let's check out this video! Ive gotten the most backlash from family medicine/primary care doctors. I started the Dr. Babe Ruth, Serena Williams, and Michael Jordan competing at their peaks. Over the ensuing months, hed set his sights on the idiosyncrasies of medical education, academic journals, and all of health cares many instances of institutions preying on people who are less powerful than them, he said. That leaves nights and weekends for the ring light, the iPhone, and Flanarys alter ego, an internet celebrity known as Dr. Glaucomflecken. Whenever hes uncertain whether a given joke might go too far, he refers to a simple guiding principle: Be sure to punch up. "That's all we have.". (He has joked, "It's so easy even an ophthalmologist can do it.") It actually allows us to be compassionate, she said in an interview. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. They have one thing in common being mocked by Will Flanary, an ophthalmologist known to millions in the medical world as Dr. Click the topic below to receive emails when new articles are available. Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. Written by: What is this world? , updated Kristin was headed to a graduate psychology program at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, while Flanary was set to return to Houston for medical school. Morning Forecast Then he found TikTok. Please use this form to submit your questions or comments on how to make this article more useful to clinicians. In the clip, he issues a reminder to his fellow viewers, "Health insurance companies don't care about you. OK, but everyones tired all the time, can you trust people to know if theyre asymptomatic? the other character (also portrayed by Flanary) responds, before offering alternative suggestions that end up being significantly watered down. SURGEON reacts: Dr. Glaucomflecken trauma surgery on July 4th David Hindin, M.D. Eyeballs aside, he had found the perfect specialty for him. Flanary says the videos have taken him to a place he never expected, and hell continue doing it as long as his audience still watches and he continues to enjoy it. 'Its really helped me because I enjoy making people laugh,' he told the outlet. In 2016, he joined Twitter as Dr Glaucomflecken, and took to it like an eyeball to ocular fluid. [5][7], According to Robert D. Putnam and Cline Gounder, comedians like Flanary are "leveraging irony and exaggeration to expose the ills of the American healthcare system and the lunacy of global COVID vaccine inequity."[9]. They dont like the portrayal of the some of them as overworked, underpaid sympathetic figure, always doing some sort of fellowship. I may be retired. He had raised over US$100,000 for the organization as of January 2022. In February alone, Dr Glaucomflecken released nine installments of his ongoing 60-second video series, in which a hapless medical student is thrown into the deep end by various specialists, from an elbow-patched psychiatrist to a mountain-biking emergency medicine doctor. People want the opposite. By that time, he turned from blue and purple to gray. When she realized he was unresponsive, she called 911. Radhakrishnan Pillai, Written by: Yuval Noah Harari, Written by: Emergency room doctors savor adrenaline and bike helmets. Im really good at finding my own testicular cancer! He laughed. They think that by portraying the character that way, Im dissuading people from entering that field, which I dont buy for a second. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. America to face a shortage of primary care physicians within a decade or so. My entire medical workup was normal. From his home in Portland, Ore., Flanary, who served as the Yale Medical School commencement speaker this year, talked about finding humor in the everyday, what he hears from other doctors and his side hack as a Cameo star. Contests & Promotions, 2023, Pikes Peak Television, Inc. Colorado Springs, CO, USA, Pedro Pascal appears delighted that Sarah Michelle Gellar remembers working with him on Buffy, Man accused of killing 2 police officers and a deputy dies in Kentucky jail. That's my name.". [4] While attending Dartmouth, he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha. Area of Expertise: Cataracts Eye Exams Locations: Oregon City: (503) 656-4221 Wilsonville: (503) 582-0000 Board Certified, American Board of Ophthalmology Doctors still don't know what caused his cardiac arrest in the first place. It also introduced him to the intoxication of a "like" at that time, on Facebook. If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here. On TikTok,. Flanary suffered a form of cardiac arrest called ventricular fibrillation, in which the hearts lower chambers flutter erratically, cutting off the flow of blood to the rest of the body. Sometimes its a sarcastic look at coronavirus guidelines, an insiders view of the medical hierarchy (nurses are the true rulers) or the expensive world of peer-review publishing. Don't have time to read this post? Flanary declined to disclose his comedy income, but he gets ad revenue from YouTube, and hes recording three or four Cameo videos a night at $180 a pop. Now, he is telling his story so that other men know what to look for and can catch the disease early on. Written by: Dr. Glaucomflecken recently uploaded a video to his real youtube channel (one with ~25k subscribers) notifying people that the 144k subs account is actually not him, rather an impersonator that is taking all of his videos off other social media platforms and reuploading them to that channel. 2023 Glaucomflecken | Web design by Edge One Media | Privacy Policy. The evenings are for family, and a standing commitment to make dinner for his wife and two daughters. He started doing stand-up, the hardest thing in the world, while in college at Texas Tech University. [8] As of June 2022, his Twitter account had over 573,000 followers, and his TikTok account had over 1.5 million followers and over 58 million total likes. The audience was rapt as they listened to her 911 phone call. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that neurologist Anna Nordvig was among those who had reacted to Will Flanary's videos. Thankfully, Dr Glaucomflecken has a prescription for that. Since pulling back that eyelid of anonymity, "I'm a real person now to people," Flanary says. It was the spring of 2020, and the nascent Covid-19 pandemic had shuttered businesses around the country, including Flanarys private practice. It was the juxtaposition between my previous rotation, which was vascular surgery, where youre standing for like six-hour cases, holding the retractor and you have really sick patients. He practices in Oregon City, Oregon and lives in Portland, Oregon. They're using honesty and humor to advocate for widespread CPR training, an overhaul of the way medical systems interact with patient's family members, and insurance reform. They claim their digital dynamic mimics real life. Ophthalmologist Portland | Dr.William E. Flanary | EHNPC Home Our Doctors William E. Flanary, M.D. MiCare Path joins the AHA CHTI and will integrate AHA science-based, Congratulations to the winners of the Wellness Challenge and Scavenger Hunt, Special Recognition to the Hinsdale Humane Society, Trial results shed light on tool for assessing VTE risk, routine anticoagulation for non-hospitalized COVID patients, and clinical outcomes of open vs. endovascular surgery for advanced PAD, Bivalirudin superior to unfractionated heparin in primary PCI following STEMI, Overcoming health disparities, health care advocates and mindfulness can better manage BP and CVD, Medtech is getting smarter and so is patient care, New digital hub offers professional education to complement lifelong learning, Trial results report on benefits of radial artery for CABG, use of prophylactic methylprednisolone and ECMO for patients in cardiogenic shock, And the Health Tech Competition winner is, Science, medicine must be a relentless force in fighting misinformation. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer twice the first time was when he was in his fourth year of medical school at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and the second time while he was in his third year of residency at the University of Iowa. 6 months ago Why turning off anesthesia is more complicated than flipping a switch - Reaction to. 'I use comedy to cope with my own health issues. 23.1K Likes, 784 Comments. William E. Flanary is an American comedian and ophthalmologist who performs under the stage name Dr. Glaucomflecken. Dr. Glaucomfleckens success to date was unimaginable back in the spring of 2020. Since then, it has evolved to incorporate satire of the US healthcare system, academic publishing, and the interpersonal conflicts that are pervasive in the medical system. "I was sitting down," he says with a sense of wonder. Q: How did this whole social media gig get started? Please see our. Flanarys short videos poking fun at medical specialists, the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the absurdities of the U.S. health-care system, and debunking medical myths have racked up more than more than 47 million views on TikTok alone. It was comedy that helped me through a diagnosis of cancer during med schooland again during residency. After surgery to remove the cancer, they were ready to move forward. You can cancel your membership at anytime at no cost. Over time, my audience grew. 2023 American College of Emergency Physicians. Power of Social Media with Family Physician Dr. Mike | Knock Knock, Hi! A: Every specialty in medicine has a kind of personality, an essence, and theyve been the same since the beginning of modern medicine. By "Nobody really likes a nag," Kristin says. In his first video to get more than 1 million views, posted that July, Flanary plays two roles: the flabbergasted patient saddled with a massive bill, and the unnervingly calm customer service representative explaining that if he had simply chosen an in-network doctor while he was unconscious, all of this could have been avoided. If you trust your content, if you trust the message, then youve got to just go with it and accept that. DEALING WITH CANCER AND A HEART ATTACK. Kristin is a superhero in her own right. When the words wont come. $15.00. But at some point you just have to go for it. He added: 'No one knows your testicles better than you, more than likely. Dr. Glaucomflecken hasn't responded to me and probably won't. Go ahead and share this so he gets the message. Is Homeostasis a Joke to You Shirt. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Better known as Dr. Glaucomflecken to the rest of the world, his humour has been a bright spot for his 1.3 million TikTok and 472.9K Twitter followers looking for a bit of levity amid the. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Book a personalized video with Dr. Glaucomflecken on Cameo! He also skewers emergency medicine and surgeons, but says he is careful around practices that are more sensitive or do not get the respect they deserve, like primary care doctors and pediatrics. If you log out, you will be required to enter your username and password the next time you visit. A: I dont think of myself as a survivor, really. In his fourth year of med school, after an "awful" vascular surgery rotation where he was on his feet for hours at a time, draped in lead, Flanary took an ophthalmology elective. The more hours you work per week, the closer you get to park to the hospital. In 2012, they had their first child. But she knew he needed more help than she could give. It helps to laugh in the face of pretty difficult situations. Please keep your comments respectful and relevant. [Physically] I recovered just fine, Dr. Glaucomflecken said. It was also while he was a medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine that he was first diagnosed with testicular cancer (specifically, a highly curable stage 1a seminoma) at the age of 25. The paramedics broke down a door and carried Flanary, who is 6 foot 4, from his bed to a hardwood floor downstairs. Cite this: How Dr Glaucomflecken Overcame Death to Get Internet Laughs-Medscape-Mar10,2021. Daniel Kahneman. "It was such a powerful thing for me, and I saw the good it does for me and the people I do that trip with," he says.