The trauma surgeon laughed really hard at the part where the surgeon tells the medical student hes mad at the student for not being psychic. So he turned to the internet. 'Life was just more complicated at that point.'. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. 17:25 GMT 26 Nov 2021. "I feel so heard.". I hope to remind them of the importance of compassionate care. 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. Written by: After the initial laughs, the Glaucomfleckens walked the audience through their incredible story. And the outsized response taught him that a little righteous indignation can go a long way with an audience. Hi. Medical school can be brutal, and its making many of us suicidal. 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. Will was in cardiac arrest. And then theres ophthalmology, where I get to sit down to operate. 2021-4-21 Follow. I can be pretty specific with different areas of medicine and create this world of, honestly, pretty dysfunctional people. A little tired, but thats pretty normal for us. I may be retired. 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. If the later one would have been ophtho for me, I would have dropped out and painted clay doves for a living until I die. 2023 Glaucomflecken | Web design by Edge One Media | Privacy Policy. Medicine can be very hard, and I think really his type of humor keeps us humble. Welcome back to the Doctor Rich channel! 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. "Now I'm at the point of no return. Read our privacy policy for more info. Then, the surprise bills arrived accumulating charges for out-of-network care he received in the depths of his health crisis. They cant have a sense of humour because thats not professional, Flanary said. I started the Dr. Everyone's happy." "We did, like, eight cases in a day. 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That's a golden rule in comedy that demands jokesters protect the vulnerable and lampoon the powerful. She performed 10 minutes of CPR before EMS finally arrived. We dont spam! [Physically] I recovered just fine, Dr. Glaucomflecken said. 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. Dr. Glaucomflecken Sticker Pack 01. Robert T. Kiyosaki, Written by: On May 11, 2020, William A. Flanary, MD, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist, went to bed like every other night. 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. As graduation approached, the couple seemed to be going in different directions literally. Audible is a membership service that provides customers with a huge selection of audiobooks as well as podcasts, exclusive originals and more. I could attack all these topics that Id been discussing on Twitter just with boring words, but now I could approach it in a different way and do something new.. And it feels good to be laughing with someone that knows what youre going through and knows the things that have been happening inside your own head that you havent put out into words.. Flanary still doesnt know what caused his heart to stop beating. Although he says he is careful to protect his patients and the vulnerable information they share with him, Flanary ultimately believes that sharing parts of himself from the sick to the slapstick will benefit everyone. Q: Do you ever get any flack from doctors? "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. His wife performed CPR on him for 10 minutes before paramedics arrived and resuscitated him. 'The second time was much harder,' he admitted. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. 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. Power of Social Media with Family Physician Dr. Mike | Knock Knock, Hi! I get to go home at a reasonable time and develop meaningful relationships with my family. In the end, he went through with the surgery and underwent hormone replacement therapy. $15.00. 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. They think that by portraying the character that way, Im dissuading people from entering that field, which I dont buy for a second. Doctors still don't know what caused his cardiac arrest in the first place. Over time, my audience grew. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. It meant that he would have to go on hormone replacement therapy for the rest of his life." 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. His gasp for breath woke up his wife, who performed CPR for 10 minutes until paramedics arrived and resuscitated him, according to an interview with Today. But cancer is not the only challenge Flanary has faced. Please check and try again. 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. 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.. There was no medical explanation for the sudden cardiac arrest. Flanary has also tweeted about the shortcomings of the American healthcare system and the need for more humor among physicians. Will Flanary, MD, is not a typical ophthalmologist. Thats why I love building this Glaucomflecken General Hospital of characters, Flanary told STAT. "One time, I walked out and he was in full clown makeup with Pagliacci music playing." 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: What did you think when you learned you had a cardiac arrest? They dont like the portrayal of the some of them as overworked, underpaid sympathetic figure, always doing some sort of fellowship. ', The comments below have not been moderated, By ". Together and individually, we use our social media presence, impactful writing, creative endeavors, and multimedia keynote speaking to promote humanity, and a healthy sense of humor, in healthcare. Dr. Glaucomflecken's real name is Will Flanary. She first came across Dr. Glaucomflecken four or five years ago. Dr. Glaucomflecken will deliver the keynote address during EMS World Expo, Sept. 14-18, 2020. Flanary, originally from Houston, has been a practicing comedian longer than hes had a medical license. Whenever hes uncertain whether a given joke might go too far, he refers to a simple guiding principle: Be sure to punch up. I had an excellent medical team, and my family also played a big part in my recovery. Q: You made a video in March about Match day, where medical students match into residency, basically cementing their medical specialty. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. But at some point you just have to go for it. That online conference is coming up Nov. 2-4 and allows you to participate in ACEP22 educational content from the comfort of your own home. But five years later, in 2015, he discovered a lump on his other testicle. with the Glaucomfleckens. 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. Through my stories, I hope to make a difference. Glaucomflecken alter ego began as a creative outlet to tell painfully specific ophthalmology jokes and to cope with my own health challenges. A: I never get backlash from surgeons. Robert Greene, How to Talk to Anybody, Anytime, Anywhere, Written by: OK, OK, send me all your consults, he told the audience. ", Flanary's frequent contributions to the site taught him how to home in on the idiosyncrasies of various specialties. [5][7], Flanary created the Dr. Glaucomflecken Twitter account in 2016 out of boredom at a research conference. On the night of May 11, 2020, his heart went haywire. "[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. Daily Briefing Here are some of our top picks to get you started. Gaur Gopal Das. We have a real delight today. 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. Dr. Glaucomflecken 2.6M views1 year ago Shadowing the Hospital Pharmacist Dr. Glaucomflecken 3.3M views1 year ago First Day of Cardiology Dr. Glaucomflecken 4.4M views1 year ago First Day of. Its wrong, but its also true, said the surgeon. KRDO NewsChannel 13 is committed to providing a forum for civil and constructive conversation. 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. After surgery to remove the cancer, they were ready to move forward. They cant be funny. Q: What does it mean to you to be a survivor? TikTok video from Dr. Glaucomflecken (@drglaucomflecken). Get started by signing in with your Amazon account, Based on your location you have been directed to audible.in. 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. In the pre-op room before his second surgery, Kristin began looking for support groups for her husband. Thank God she did because, you know, I dont know where wed be at this point.. Its my coping mechanism Sometimes thats all you can do, right? At home, "it kind of felt like 50 First Dates for the first few days," Kristin says, as Will's memory improved. My Dr. The duo headed to Hanover. On May 11, 2020, William A. Flanary, MD, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist, went to bed like every other night. "You get that dopamine rush.". 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. But thank goodness for adrenaline. 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. 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. Theyre also put to use in Flanarys tried-and-true format, dating back to the insurance video: pithy clips in which a reasonable person encounters a preposterous system, and comedy ensues. It was the spring of 2020, and the nascent Covid-19 pandemic had shuttered businesses around the country, including Flanarys private practice. A short format, very easy to edit and shoot, and it would work on my schedule. Will Flanary, 36, who is anophthalmologist from Oregon City, Oregon, has not let his health problems bring him down. Flanary has loved medicine almost as long as he has loved making people laugh. And theres this prevailing notion that doctors cant show who they really are. He was diagnosed the first time in his third year of medical school and then a second time in his third year of residency, he said. The second time around was a little bit more difficult, just physically and mentally and emotionally and I needed something to help me cope with the fact that I had already had cancer twice and I was only at that point 29-years-old, he said. I can make a second career out of finding testicular cancer which would be really weird for an ophthalmologist to do. He paused. 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. Feb 10 2023 Length: 39 mins Podcast Listen for free View show details Summary Today for our 100th episode, Asif and Ali welcome back one of their most popular guests, Will Flannary aka social media star Dr. Glaucomflecken. Dr. Glaucomflecken lists . This is my life with aphasia. My "Dr. Glaucomflecken" alter ego began as a creative outlet to tell painfully specific ophthalmology jokes and to cope with my own health challenges. 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. As a bonus they are also joined by Will's wife Kristen Flannary, aka Lady Glaucomflecken. 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. Hes also starting to think bigger. "I remember being very tired and telling her, I'm so tired. America to face a shortage of primary care physicians within a decade or so. 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. Please use this form to submit your questions or comments on how to make this article more useful to clinicians. Q: Why do you think its become such a hit, particularly for people outside the medical world? You cant tell jokes. At the hospital, doctors put him into therapeutic hypothermia. Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. 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. While still in his residency, Flanary was concerned his medical comedy would get him in trouble. [2][5] After graduating from Dartmouth, he completed his residency at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 2017. He had raised over US$100,000 for the organization as of January 2022. He sipped from his diet coke while showing off his skin-tight, belly-baring cycling jersey with matching bike helmet and sunglasses. It really did kick off with the insurance problems, Flanary said. "OK, OK, send me all your consults," he told the audience. [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. 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. Devdutt Pattanaik, Written by: The Viral Fever, Written by: His sense of humor was just a bonus. Q: What is the most important thing you learned from this event that youd like to pass on to others? Now, Will said he loves to bring others happiness through his viral videos. If I didnt find the humor in this awful situation, the gravity of it all would crush me. If you're new to Audible, you can take free membership trial for 30 days. "What delights me to no end is people who think my actual name is Dr Glaucomflecken," Flanary says. He wore a portable defibrillator at first and eventually had one implanted. 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. 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. 'I noticed one morning that it felt like my testicle was trying to grow another testicle. Flanary's Twitter obsession eventually spread. In front of a standing room-only crowd, Dr. and Lady Glaucomflecken delivered an opening keynote session packed with laughs (so many laughs!) 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. It feels good to laugh. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform. She knows the trauma of being a co-survivor and uses her experience to advocate for compassion for patients and their families. Im really good at finding my own testicular cancer! He laughed. Severe Weather "Believe it or not, a lot of doctors are not good at making fun of themselves," he says. If you would like to share a story idea, please submit it here. "Medicine is full of absurdity," he says. 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. Q&A with William A. Flanary, MD, aka Dr. Glaucomflecken, provides a glimpse into his experience surviving cardiac arrest. 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.". "William Flanary" redirects here. And those are the ones where theres a lot of truth about a subject thats a little bit more sensitive people have a more of a reaction to it because they feel heard. Social media is a great way to show that side, because you can reach a big audience and it shows the public that we have things that suck about our job or that we hate health care, and it allows the general public to relate to us, and thats something thats been missing for a long, long time. Please confirm that you would like to log out of Medscape. 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. That leaves nights and weekends for the ring light, the iPhone, and Flanarys alter ego, an internet celebrity known as Dr. Glaucomflecken. 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. 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'M so tired podcasts, exclusive originals and more they were ready move. Harder, ' he admitted, by `` this form to submit your questions or comments on how to in! In 2015, he discovered a lump on his other testicle new to dr glaucomflecken heart attack, you not... Off his skin-tight, belly-baring cycling jersey with matching bike helmet and sunglasses skin-tight, belly-baring cycling jersey matching! Will 's health problems bring him down not professional, Flanary created the Dr. Glaucomflecken said patients and families! Be very hard, and it would work on my schedule | Knock Knock,!. One Media | Privacy Policy the couple seemed to be a survivor example of one that surprised me but is...