Related videos. As Dr Glaucomflecken's popularity has grown, so has his prop inventory. His prognosis was good, but this would change their lives forever. It was the spring of 2020, and the nascent Covid-19 pandemic had shuttered businesses around the country, including Flanarys private practice. Daniel Kahneman. Will Flanarys days are spent conducting eye exams and cataract surgeries at a private practice outside Portland, Ore. TikTok doc makes physicians laugh at themselves. Flanary isnt terribly concerned that his caricatures will ruffle feathers among his peers, in part because hes never far removed from a joke at the expense of his own specialty. Despite his best efforts, Flanary's irreverent style occasionally catches flack. For Flanary, comedy comes naturally. I feel like I can just try these things and see where it takes me.. "That's kind of the way it works with me with humor.. 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 may be old. Ophthalmologist Portland | Dr.William E. Flanary | EHNPC Home Our Doctors William E. Flanary, M.D. William E. Flanary, M.D. Telling jokes helped me to navigate the challenges of living as a cancer patient in my 20s. If Id known that it would turn into this I would have chosen an easier name to say. Im fortunate to have this nice job that gives me a nice living thats always there, he said. This contributes to negative outcomes like physician burnout and strained interactions with patients, he explains. Babe Ruth, Serena Williams, and Michael Jordan competing at their peaks. His early work was squarely in the lingua franca of the platform: short, comedic videos synced to popular songs. It actually allows us to be compassionate, she said in an interview. A: Every specialty in medicine has a kind of personality, an essence, and theyve been the same since the beginning of modern medicine. Thankfully, Dr Glaucomflecken has a prescription for that. In middle school, he went to summer camp at a local university and got his first hard look at the field of medicine. Flanary churns out original content every few days. 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. 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. It really did kick off with the insurance problems, Flanary said. The criticism that rankles Flanary most is that his humor is "unprofessional." As Kristin went to pack a bag for the hospital, "I heard the first shock and heard his body slam on the floor," she says. 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. Power of Social Media with Family Physician Dr. Mike | Knock Knock, Hi! A glaukomflecken is a change in the lens of the eye after an acute angle closure, whereas Dr Glaucomflecken is a social media sensation. 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. Ankur Warikoo, 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, Written by: A: They may not get some of the terminology, some of the jokes, but they get the personalities, and that resonates with people. 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. Kristin says. Dr. Glaucomflecken Sticker Pack 01. Flanary continued to recover, with the help of friends, family, and, of course, comedy. EMS1: NAEMSP 2023 Quick Take: Wife or Death. Will Flanary, aka Dr. Glaucomflecken, at home in Portland, Ore. Flanary in character as the emergency medicine doctor, eternally clad in cycling gear. A: Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, needs to learn CPR. Written by: Although sometimes it feels like the other way around. I was just a third-year med student, but I knew enough to know that wasnt supposed to happen,' he recalled to The Today Show during a recent interview. In Germany, your oral-practical exam to graduate from med school includes each a professor/examiner from internal medicine, surgery, a specialty of your choice and a wildcard specialty. ', The comments below have not been moderated, By Area of Expertise: Cataracts Eye Exams Locations: Oregon City: (503) 656-4221 Wilsonville: (503) 582-0000 Board Certified, American Board of Ophthalmology A: Initially, the hardest part was sleeping at night not knowing if I would wake up in the morning. 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. According to reports, only one to two per cent of testicular cancer survivors develop it again in the other testicle - but he was unfortunately one of those survivors. (He has joked, "It's so easy even an ophthalmologist can do it.") He practices in Oregon City, Oregon and lives in Portland, Oregon. Its just been a very serious field. Gaur Gopal Das. Flanarys best material balances the specificity of an expert with the nose for hypocrisy that typically comes from an incisive observer, said Heidi Tworek, a University of British Columbia history professor who studies health communication. Sarah Cooper, a comedian who rose to internet stardom by lip-syncing to President Trump, parlayed her success into a 2020 Netflix special that was not particularly well-received, and then the election came and went along with her moment. What humor does is it allows you to take that thing and you just break it apart. 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 Will Flanary, 36, has gained more. And besides, even if it all blows up, he still gets to be a doctor. That's part of why Dr Glaucomflecken started out as an anonymous account. 2023 Glaucomflecken | Web design by Edge One Media | Privacy Policy. 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. That's my name.". One of Flanarys most popular videos, which pokes fun at anesthesiologists, has over seven million views. Hctor Garca, Written by: "Comedy is a way to assert some sort of power over a situation in which you feel powerless," Flanary says. TORONTO (CTV Network) By the time Dr. Will Flanary was 29-years-old, he had already survived cancer twice. mountain-biking emergency medicine doctor, shortcomings of the American healthcare system, "Ophthalmologist Accidentally Agrees to See Inpatient Consult. Welcome back to the Doctor Rich channel! She first came across Dr. Glaucomflecken four or five years ago. He sipped from his diet coke while showing off his skin-tight, belly-baring cycling jersey with matching bike helmet and sunglasses. TikTok video from Dr. Glaucomflecken (@drglaucomflecken). Honestly, its surreal, Flanary told CTV National News in a video interview from his home in Portland, Ore. Flanary had been doing stand-up comedy intermittently since high school, but always wanted to go into medicine. They don't care.". Who are these people?" 121. Whos to say what 2024 might bring? His sense of humor was just a bonus. In the end, he went through with the surgery and underwent hormone replacement therapy. For Flanary, who survived two bouts of testicular cancer, the videos have been therapeutic, but they have also allowed him to fundraise over US$100,000 for First Descents, a non-profit that provides outdoor adventures for young adults impacted by cancer and other serious health issues. Getting more than 1 million views became the norm. We dont spam! 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. Her work has appeared in Vox, National Geographic, and The Atlantic. This resonates with a lot of people.. 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, This version has been corrected. OK, OK, send me all your consults, he told the audience. Theres the warm but disconcertingly studious pediatrician, the charmingly alarmist dermatologist, the meatheaded orthopedic surgeon, and Jonathan, the loyal medical scribe whose dedication borders on sociopathy. Q&A with William A. Flanary, MD, aka Dr. Glaucomflecken, provides a glimpse into his experience surviving cardiac arrest. Three days later, he woke up in an ICU bed, recovering from a cardiac arrest. The evenings are for family, and a standing commitment to make dinner for his wife and two daughters. But Will's health problems didn't end there. "OK, OK, send me all your consults," he told the audience. It kept me moving.". He wore a portable defibrillator at first and eventually had one implanted. Comedy may not be his career, but it has served another role in his life. 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. I started doing the video format at the right time especially with the pandemic, more people have been on online. 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. [6], During his third year of residency, Flanary was diagnosed with testicular cancer again. In December 2015, he made his first (anonymous) contribution to GomerBlog, in the form of a satirical news report headlined "Ophthalmologist Accidentally Agrees to See Inpatient Consult. with the Glaucomfleckens. By that time, he turned from blue and purple to gray. 2021-4-21 Follow. That's a golden rule in comedy that demands jokesters protect the vulnerable and lampoon the powerful. Anand Neelakantan, Little Things: Jab Dhruv Met Kavya, Season 1, Written by: It does highlight how wonderful family medicine doctors are though. And it does help you put a different perspective on things.. But its a minority most people are just fine with it. "He's not very talkative, believe it or nothe's an introvert, he's pretty private, pretty independent," she says. "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. "It's crazy some of the things we do." Koral Dasgupta. To comment please, Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. If you dont have any symptoms, you dont feel tired, you can go back to work, his CDC character tells a colleague in the video. I learned about the pandemic and how it's really impacted your profession, Dr. Glaucomflecken said. original sound - Dr. Glaucomflecken. As an Audible member, your subscription includes: Amazon Prime members can take a free 30-day trial and receive 2 credits that can be used on any 2 titles from of their choice. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. While still in his residency, Flanary was concerned his medical comedy would get him in trouble. 'Its really helped me because I enjoy making people laugh,' he told the outlet. A: Were kind of boring. He then enrolled at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, where he discovered his interest in ophthalmology. The more hours you work per week, the closer you get to park to the hospital. 1 credit a month to use on any title of your choiceyours to keep. What I think [Flanary] does well in general and perhaps why hes never been canceled is that his humor is typically one of two things: wholesome, or relatable to everybody within the medical community, said Sarah Mojarad, who teaches a course on social media for doctors and scientists at the University of Southern California. People want their doctors to seem like real people who are relatable.. Product type. And the outsized response taught him that a little righteous indignation can go a long way with an audience. In 2012, they had their first child. More:If you'd like to watch the full keynote address, it will be available to all ACEP Unconventional attendees. "One time, I walked out and he was in full clown makeup with Pagliacci music playing." "I went the much easier route of becoming a doctor." 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. In December 2009, the couple got married. Sometimes there is someone so good at something that there is universal agreement we are witnessing something special. If you can laugh over a shared experience, that can bring you together more than almost anything else, Flanary said. It helps to laugh in the face of pretty difficult situations. "I was sitting down," he says with a sense of wonder. Q: Why do you think its become such a hit, particularly for people outside the medical world? A: When I started med school at Dartmouth, everyone was assigned a random adviser, and my adviser was an ophthalmologist. But it was the emotional and mental recovery that took some time., He turned back to comedy, something he had been doing since high school, to process what he went through. At this point, I feel back to normal. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Book a personalized video with Dr. Glaucomflecken on Cameo! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Book a personalized video with Dr. Glaucomflecken on Cameo! We dont like to work for long periods of time. Many members had tears in their eyes as they gave her a longstanding ovation for her lifesaving efforts. 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