That's my name.". Everything from social media to the patient experience to why cataract surgery isnt as bad as you think it is. Flanary couldn't perform regularly, given his responsibilities as a student and a father. It doesnt take long to learn, and you can save a life. "Now I'm at the point of no return. The Viral Fever, Written by: 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. He had raised over US$100,000 for the organization as of January 2022. So he found an open mic near Dartmouth's campus, prepared a 10-minute set, and performed for an enthusiastic crowd of 50-60 people. It actually allows us to be compassionate, she said in an interview. 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. "Psychiatrist here," one woman tweeted in reply to the light roasting. "That's all we have.". 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. 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. I may be retired. 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. My Dr. In the pre-op room before his second surgery, Kristin began looking for support groups for her husband. A: Were kind of boring. 'Its really hard having a diagnosis like that in your 20s because when youre in your 20s, you have this sense of invincibility, like nothing can hurt you, youll never get sick. 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.. But unlike the many debunkers, explainers, and self-promotional plastic surgeons who populate the platform, Flanarys primary concern is with making people laugh. 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. After surviving testicular cancer twice, Will suffered a cardiac arrest out of the blue last year, and his wife, Kristin - whom he calls his 'superhero' - saved his life by performing CPR. He practices in Oregon City, Oregon and lives in Portland, Oregon. Paramahansa Yogananda, Written by: 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. [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. Whenever hes uncertain whether a given joke might go too far, he refers to a simple guiding principle: Be sure to punch up. Dr. Glaucomflecken had the audience laughing as soon as he took the stage, resplendent in his TikTok-famous emergency physician costume. [4] While attending Dartmouth, he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha. Glaucomflecken account on Twitter as an ophthalmology resident, fresh off a second occurrence of testicular cancer. Two weeks before classes began, Flanary got a call: Dartmouth accepted him too. 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. He has two children now and is grateful his wife Kristin known on Twitter as Lady Glaucomflecken convinced him to start their family during medical school. Anand Neelakantan, Little Things: Jab Dhruv Met Kavya, Season 1, Written by: You have to do it and live through the consequences.. Power of Social Media with Family Physician Dr. Mike | Knock Knock, Hi! In 2014, after a transitional year in Chicago, the young family moved to Iowa City, where Flanary began his residency at the University of Iowa. "There are a lot of weird words in ophthalmology," Flanary says of his decision to riff on a glaukomflecken for his internet persona. These are things medical students have experienced, that residents have experienced its all relatable.. Since 2016 he has become well known for making and uploading medical satire skits on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.[2]. ". Thats why I love building this Glaucomflecken General Hospital of characters, Flanary told STAT. William E. Flanary is an American comedian and ophthalmologist who performs under the stage name Dr. Glaucomflecken. [5][7], Flanary created the Dr. Glaucomflecken Twitter account in 2016 out of boredom at a research conference. Glaucomflecken, a term for a sign of glaucoma. 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. Theres the lackadaisical emergency medicine doctor, eternally clad in cycling gear. They have one thing in common being mocked by Will Flanary, an ophthalmologist known to millions in the medical world as Dr. 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. Comedy may not be his career, but it has served another role in his life. He started with stand-up in high school, making "teenage boy jokes" wherever he could find an open mic. He then had surgery to remove the testicle that had the tumor on it. 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. His prognosis was good, but this would change their lives forever. I may be yelling at kids to get off my front lawn. 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. 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. Please enter a Recipient Address and/or check the Send me a copy checkbox. Don't have time to read this post? From then on, he knew he wanted to be a doctor the first in his family. (Interestingly enough, I just saw Louis CK talk about this same thing on Joe Rogan's podcast). 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.. Area of Expertise: Cataracts Eye Exams Locations: Oregon City: (503) 656-4221 Wilsonville: (503) 582-0000 Board Certified, American Board of Ophthalmology 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. Eric Jorgenson. Robert Greene, How to Talk to Anybody, Anytime, Anywhere, Written by: Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey. Since pulling back that eyelid of anonymity, "I'm a real person now to people," Flanary says. She performed CPR for an incredible nine minutes. As graduation approached, the couple seemed to be going in different directions literally. Then he found TikTok. Then in 2016, Flanary was again diagnosed with testicular cancer not a recurrence, but a totally separate case. As a bonus they are also joined by Will's wife Kristen Flannary, aka Lady Glaucomflecken. [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. This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to continue for long enough. And I trust myself. Her account, Lady Glaucomflecken, commands tens of thousands of followers on its own. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. A: Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, needs to learn CPR. The humour not only allows him to connect with his audience, but it can also help patients and doctors, says Dr. Dolores McKeen, the president of the Canadian Anesthesiologists Society. "One time, I walked out and he was in full clown makeup with Pagliacci music playing." 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. Brianna Wiest, Written by: At 4:45 a.m. on May 11, 2020, Kristin woke up to Will making a strange sound in his sleep. He'll do it all under the guise of his signature, top hat-wearing ophthalmoscope. Will Flanary, 36, who is anophthalmologist from Oregon City, Oregon, has not let his health problems bring him down. And each submits to a few minutes of Jungian analysis, care of the staff psychiatrist. 1 credit a month to use on any title of your choiceyours to keep. Kristin talked about how they are building a new version of normal, healing themselves with medicine, humor, advocacy. Will Flanary, MD, is not a typical ophthalmologist. The culture of medicine is notoriously conservative, and doctors social media accounts tend toward the robotic. 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. 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. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. The account is named after glaukomflecken, a sign of acute angle-closure glaucoma. My "Dr. Glaucomflecken" alter ego began as a creative outlet to tell painfully specific ophthalmology jokes and to cope with my own health challenges. We dont spam! In the clip, he issues a reminder to his fellow viewers, "Health insurance companies don't care about you. At the time, Flanary told CTV News, "If Id known that it would turn into this I would have chosen an easier name to say. 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. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. After the initial laughs, the Glaucomfleckens walked the audience through their incredible story. Thankfully, his wife was able to perform CPR until the paramedics arrived and they were able to resuscitate him. 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. Hello and welcome to Knock-Knock. I hope to remind them of the importance of compassionate care. 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. Get TikTok App . 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. It was the spring of 2020, and the nascent Covid-19 pandemic had shuttered businesses around the country, including Flanarys private practice. People want their doctors to seem like real people who are relatable.. 2023 Glaucomflecken | Web design by Edge One Media | Privacy Policy. iconic take on the EM residency interview. That combined dedication to learning the inside details of medicine while practicing the outsider art of satire might explain what makes Dr. Glaucomflecken work. 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. Here are some of our top picks to get you started. But five years later, in 2015, he discovered a lump on his other testicle. Its been a little bit surprising how popular the characters are its taken on a life of its own. His Dr. Glaucomflecken alter ego has been a balm, not only for his colleagues, patients, and a pandemic-weary public, but also for himself. Q: Does your family think youre as funny as everyone else does? I continued making content through the pandemic, a sudden cardiac arrest, and dozens of reports of people sleeping in their contact lenses with disastrous consequences. His idle hands first turned to Twitter, where hed amassed some 100,000 followers as @DGlaucomflecken, borrowing the German term for a glaucoma symptom because he wanted the most ridiculous word I could think of in ophthalmology. But soon he wasnt finding it as much of a challenge to be funny via text. "That's kind of the way it works with me with humor.. But he uses his platform as speaker and comedian Dr. Glaucomflecken (@DGlaucomflecken) to spotlight how CPR saves lives in emergencies. We still dont know the cause. mountain-biking emergency medicine doctor, shortcomings of the American healthcare system, "Ophthalmologist Accidentally Agrees to See Inpatient Consult. What is included with my Audible Premium Plus membership? 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 front of a standing room-only crowd, Dr. and Lady Glaucomflecken delivered an opening keynote session packed with laughs (so many laughs!) Each is deployed as a comedic foil for whatever point Flanary wants to make, whether a high-minded critique of prior authorization or a farcical look at how residency works. And the outsized response taught him that a little righteous indignation can go a long way with an audience. "The first one was a blow, because you feel like you're young and invincible and healthy and nothing's going to happen to you," Kristin says. One thing Ive learned is that the videos that get the biggest reaction are the ones where there is an emotional reaction. 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. When we're faced with things in life beyond our control, whether you get sick or a family member gets sick or dies or has an accident, or a pandemic, we feel like control of our own lives is taken away from us, he explained. The Glaucomflecken repertory theater began to grow. A glaukomflecken is a change in the lens of the eye after an acute angle closure, whereas Dr Glaucomflecken is a social media sensation. You've successfully added to your alerts. (He has joked, "It's so easy even an ophthalmologist can do it.") 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. After surgery to remove the cancer, they were ready to move forward. Flanary is writer, director, editor, and star, with the typical sketch foisting two or more of his characters into an instructively maddening situation that resolves with a punchline and perhaps some music, all in about 90 seconds. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. That has gotten a lot better, but it took a few weeks to get there. Q&A with William A. Flanary, MD, aka Dr. Glaucomflecken, provides a glimpse into his experience surviving cardiac arrest. 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. But at some point you just have to go for it. Kristin is a superhero in her own right. "You get that dopamine rush.". "He doesn't want people to feel bad for him, he doesn't want to wear his heart on his sleeve." Neurosurgeons are just a tad confident. "Nobody really likes a nag," Kristin says. 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. 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. This resonates with a lot of people.. As most of the humor on Fun Friday, this is funny and also heartbreaking. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. 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. Turns out, I was having agonal breaths, which are a sign of cardiac arrest. A: Humor is how I process grief and tragedy in my life. He sipped from his diet coke while showing off his skin-tight, belly-baring cycling jersey with matching bike helmet and sunglasses. "I feel so heard.". If the IOP remains elevated long enough, glaucomatous optic neuropathy may occur, resulting in primary angle closure glaucoma. Md, is not a typical ophthalmologist a student and a father resonates with lot. Yelling at kids to get there acute angle-closure glaucoma is that the videos that the. Bit surprising how popular the characters are its taken on a life time to read post... 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