It allowed me to express frustration toward my genitals for having betrayed me as well as tell jokes about my life as a resident in ophthalmology. Things would gradually get a little more pointed, with jokes at the expense of disinterested emergency medicine doctors, overeager medical students, and, in a running theme, well-paid and under-worked ophthalmologists. Social media star and comedian Dr. Glaucomflecken, aka ophthalmologist William E. Flanary, MD, along with his wife, Kristin Flanary, MA, shared social media insights as well as his experience as an ICU patient during his presentation of the Peter Safar Honorary Lecture, "Wife and Death: Featuring Dr. and Lady Glaucomflecken," on January 22, 2023, 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. 'Its really helped me because I enjoy making people laugh,' he told the outlet. You will receive email when new content is published. On the night of May 11, 2020, his heart went haywire. Neelesh Misra, Written by: There are many YouTube reaction videos from doctors on Flanarys assessments of their character such as trauma surgeon David Hindin and neurosurgeon Martin Rutkowski who say the portrayals are spot-on. But she explained that she needed him to listen to it because she needed someone to live in that space with her. Flanary's recovery was quick, but he needed an outlet to process his experiences. Although Flanary excels at specialist humor, he says "one of the central tenets of doing comedy as a physician is it's safest to make fun of yourself.". At home, "it kind of felt like 50 First Dates for the first few days," Kristin says, as Will's memory improved. That can be a tricky proposition. "OK, OK, send me all your consults," he told the audience. Related videos. Dr. Glaucomflecken (@DGlaucomflecken) December 21, 2018 Uncompensated nurse time would make it more like 40 years. If you're new to Audible, you can take free membership trial for 30 days. [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. Q: What did you learn about being a doctor from being a patient? The question is just how big his audience might be and whether what works online can translate to another medium. In 2017, Flanary went kayaking in Hood River, Oregon, with 15 other cancer survivors. I fought death with hand-to-hand combat, she said. A doctor who who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and survived cancer twice has become a viral TikTok star, after sharing hilarious stories about his health woes in an attempt to raise awareness among others. Dr. Glaucomflecken said he didnt want to listen to her 911 call at first because it was too hard to hear. Although they may not want to admit it, "powerless" is exactly how many medical professionals, patients, and their families often feel. In 2012, they had their first child. Benjamin Graham, Written by: 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. 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 stress and gloom of the COVID-19 pandemic. "[7] He has received many speaking opportunities since revealing himself as the creator of Dr. Glaucomflecken, including as the commencement speaker for the graduating class of Yale School of Medicine and University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in May 2022. 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. "But he healed so quickly, it was like nothing ever happened." The paramedics broke down a door and carried Flanary, who is 6 foot 4, from his bed to a hardwood floor downstairs. Since 2016 he has become well known for making and uploading medical satire skits on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube. Let's put an end of burnout. The culture of medicine is notoriously conservative, and doctors social media accounts tend toward the robotic. While still in his residency, Flanary was concerned his medical comedy would get him in trouble. They cant be funny. Audible is a membership service that provides customers with a huge selection of audiobooks as well as podcasts, exclusive originals and more. Ultimately, performing comedy live became too challenging to keep up as my medical career progressed, so I turned to social media. You have to do it and live through the consequences.. 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. On TikTok, Instagram and Twitter, Flanary posts videos several times a week for more than 1.6 million followers about the medical system. His sense of humor was just a bonus. For a long time, theres been this idea that its not professional to show that side of yourself as a doctor; that youre supposed to be this emotionless machine and you cant show that things affect you mentally, or make you angry or sad or laugh. He added: 'No one knows your testicles better than you, more than likely. (Heres his iconic take on the EM residency interview.) After surgery to remove the cancer, they were ready to move forward. Life in one of the world's most isolated communities: Indigenous Canadian woman reveals it takes two days to get groceries from nearest town 338 miles away, there's only five hours of daylight in winter and no one has an address because it's so small, Student, 18, reveals she 'could have died' from toxic shock syndrome caused by falling asleep with a tampon in after hospital doctors dismissed her symptoms as 'Freshers Flu', Children's campaign group slams 'despicable' UK secondary school over letter telling parents that pupils who arrive without a mask will have to buy one or face being hauled out of lessons - branding it 'child abuse'. It sometimes allows the environment that we work in to be a little bit more humane I think that patients sometimes enjoy the humor and it makes us a little bit more relatable.. That's my name.". An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that neurologist Anna Nordvig was among those who had reacted to Will Flanary's videos. He has a passion for educating non-ophthalmologists about ophthalmology and is a frequent speaker at medical conferences across multiple specialties, including emergency medicine, primary care, and critical care medicine. There, they had their second child. A: No, I felt completely normal. Glaucomflecken alter ego began as a creative outlet to tell painfully specific ophthalmology jokes and to cope with my own health challenges. Despite his best efforts, Flanary's irreverent style occasionally catches flack. And Twitter, a website on which the rhetorical distance between I disagree with you and you should be put in jail can be alarmingly short, was becoming a bit of a drag. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. 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 also introduced him to the intoxication of a "like" at that time, on Facebook. After surgery to remove the cancer, they were ready to move forward. 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. 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,. In the clip, he issues a reminder to his fellow viewers, "Health insurance companies don't care about you. As Dr Glaucomflecken's popularity has grown, so has his prop inventory. He sipped from his diet coke while showing off his skin-tight, belly-baring cycling jersey with matching bike helmet and sunglasses. I had an excellent medical team, and my family also played a big part in my recovery. Flanary is alive because his wife, Kristin, noticed his irregular breathing and performed CPR until an EMT could arrive and shock his heart back into regular function. 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. This interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity. That's a golden rule in comedy that demands jokesters protect the vulnerable and lampoon the powerful. 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. If this is your first time posting, please read the sub rules. Flanary, 36, has about 2.5 million subscribers across TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, where his pointed satire of medicines many absurdities has ballooned into a cast of characters and a cottage industry. How do you know the little idiosyncrasies so well? iconic take on the EM residency interview. He grew up in Houston, the son of a teacher and an engineer. The evenings are for family, and a standing commitment to make dinner for his wife and two daughters. Chetan Bhagat. Flanary still doesnt know what caused his heart to stop beating. Flanary has loved medicine almost as long as he has loved making people laugh. 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. He had raised over US$100,000 for the organization as of January 2022. Yuval Noah Harari, Written by: Hes also starting to think bigger. In May 2020, his heart suddenly stopped beating in the middle of the night. A glaukomflecken is a change in the lens of the eye after an acute angle closure, whereas Dr Glaucomflecken is a social media sensation. Flanary churns out original content every few days. All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright 1994-2023 by WebMD LLC. "I remember being very tired and telling her, I'm so tired. Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey. Written by: As most of the humor on Fun Friday, this is funny and also heartbreaking. Written by: He practices in Oregon City, Oregon and lives in Portland, Oregon. Glaucomflecken alter ego began as a creative outlet to tell painfully specific ophthalmology jokes and to cope with my own health challenges. His pandemic content on vaccinations have garnered the most negative response but he tries not to pay too much attention to the angry comments and messages, he says. A: Humor is how I process grief and tragedy in my life. 1 credit a month to use on any title of your choiceyours to keep. 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. Within three days, Dr. Glaucomflecken's attack on healthcare PE garnered 1.2M views, 1,150 retweets, and 12k likes, while inspiring some telling conversations about private equity's impact on . 2021-4-21 Follow. ", Flanary's frequent contributions to the site taught him how to home in on the idiosyncrasies of various specialties. Hello and welcome to Knock-Knock. In middle school, he went to summer camp at a local university and got his first hard look at the field of medicine. 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. "Now I'm at the point of no return. 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