TORONTO (CTV Network) By the time Dr. Will Flanary was 29-years-old, he had already survived cancer twice. Thankfully, Will was able to remove the testicle through surgery and was fully cured. This contributes to negative outcomes like physician burnout and strained interactions with patients, he explains. Doctors still don't know what caused his cardiac arrest in the first place. [5][7], Flanary created the Dr. Glaucomflecken Twitter account in 2016 out of boredom at a research conference. Get TikTok App . What is an ophthalmologists personality? 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. Morgan Housel, Written by: Her work has appeared in Vox, National Geographic, and The Atlantic. Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey. It kept me moving.". Not to be confused with, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, "The internet's funniest doctor is in on the joke", "Doctor who had testicular cancer twice in his 20s urges men to 'check yourself', "MD Class of 2022 Selects William Flanary, MD, (aka Dr. Glaucomflecken) as Its Commencement Speaker", "TikTok star Dr. Glaucomflecken uses humour as prescription in hard times", "How Dr Glaucomflecken Overcame Death to Get Internet Laughs", "How America Can Rebuild the Community Bonds It Needs to Face the Next Pandemic", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dr._Glaucomflecken&oldid=1141489996, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 09:24. 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. And what Ive learned is that that is not the case at all. Hi. If you're new to Audible, you can take free membership trial for 30 days. That continued into the internet era, initially with posts for GomerBlog and now on his strangely named social media channels. Lillian Gissen For Dailymail.Com document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Book a personalized video with Dr. Glaucomflecken on Cameo! He added: 'No one knows your testicles better than you, more than likely. "For me, it was basically, I went to bed and I woke up in the ICU wearing a gown and no underwear like three days later," Flanary says. 199 per month after 30-day trial. 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. You can review our Community Guidelines by clicking here. I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to continue for long enough. with the Glaucomfleckens. She was alone, he said. Each got a few thousand views and some enthusiastic comments, but Flanarys ascent to TikTok stardom would come only after a brush with death. Ashish Bagrecha, Permanent Roommates: He Said, She Said, Season 2, Written by: 1 credit a month to use on any title of your choiceyours to keep. Dr. Glaucomflecken (@DGlaucomflecken) December 21, 2018 Uncompensated nurse time would make it more like 40 years. My Dr. Written by: Welcome back to the Doctor Rich channel! Flanary churns out original content every few days. But Flanary had no illusions that the world wanted to hear self-serious rants from a private-practice physician in the Pacific Northwest, so he made his points the best way he knew how: making up characters and writing jokes at their expense. Benjamin Graham, Written by: OK, OK, send me all your consults, he told the audience. If the IOP remains elevated long enough, glaucomatous optic neuropathy may occur, resulting in primary angle closure glaucoma. Honestly, it's surreal. Then he found TikTok. Ram Dinesh Sharan, Suno Mahabharat Devdutt Pattanaik ke Saath, Written by: Although sometimes it feels like the other way around. Sabrina December 6th, 2022 Birthday Check it out: She wrote about her experience in the Journal of Cardiac Failure. In middle school, he went to summer camp at a local university and got his first hard look at the field of medicine. Glaucomflecken is a result of lens epithelial cell necrosis from the elevated IOP. 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. I may be yelling at kids to get off my front lawn. That combined dedication to learning the inside details of medicine while practicing the outsider art of satire might explain what makes Dr. Glaucomflecken work. While attending Texas Tech, he met his wife, Kristin. 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. Dr. Glaucomflecken had the audience laughing as soon as he took the stage, resplendent in his TikTok-famous emergency physician costume. A: They may not get some of the terminology, some of the jokes, but they get the personalities, and that resonates with people. How Dr Glaucomflecken Overcame Death to Get Internet Laughs, ED Doc Fired for COVID Tweets Talks to Biden, Returns to Job, Med Student's Cardiac Crisis a COVID-Era Medical Mystery, 'You Are the Heroes,' Comedians Tell Clinicians. He practices in Oregon City, Oregon and lives in Portland, Oregon. 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. Since 2016 he has become well known for making and uploading medical satire skits on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.[2]. 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. Her account, Lady Glaucomflecken, commands tens of thousands of followers on its own. They have one thing in common being mocked by Will Flanary, an ophthalmologist known to millions in the medical world as Dr. Flanary has loved medicine almost as long as he has loved making people laugh. 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. Paramahansa Yogananda, Written by: 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. "Medicine is full of absurdity," he says. Lillian Gissen For Dailymail.Com. On May 11, 2020, William A. Flanary, MD, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist, went to bed like every other night. 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. The dispatcher, Lisa, led Kristin through 10 minutes of CPR as they waited for the paramedics to arrive. 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. Sort by: $36.00. There was an error saving your display name. A: Its been a little bit surprising, Ive just done it as a creative outlet. 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.. A short format, very easy to edit and shoot, and it would work on my schedule. 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. "It was exhausting," Kristin recalls. Theres no benefit to it. For undergrad, Flanary enrolled in Texas Tech University. These are things medical students have experienced, that residents have experienced its all relatable.. 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. Q: What does it mean to you to be a survivor? I had an excellent medical team, and my family also played a big part in my recovery. This interview has been lightly edited for style and clarity. Who are these people?" Hi, we are the Glock Flecking. Glaucomflecken alter ego began as a creative outlet to tell painfully specific ophthalmology jokes and to cope with my own health challenges. This time the diagnosis was a stage 1b seminoma, and he had surgery to remove his remaining testicle, followed by hormone replacement therapy consisting of a weekly self-administered injection of testosterone. Today, we're going to be doing a reaction video to Dr. Glaucomflecken's "Introducing the OB/GYN." Hi, I'm Doctor Rich, and my passion is to create silly videos you can watch and laugh. But at some point you just have to go for it. Emergency room doctors savor adrenaline and bike helmets. You know, youre just going to spiral and its gonna affect your real life outside of the internet, he said. 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. 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. '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. Whatever you want us to talk about, well be sure to make it engaging and leave your audience laughing. He then enrolled at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, where he discovered his interest in ophthalmology. [Not matching] is a really difficult thing to deal with, and Im able to put it through a lens of humor. Three days later, he woke up in an ICU bed, recovering from a cardiac arrest. But your video focused on the students who dont match, and how theyll be okay. At first, Will wasn't sure what to do, since losing both of his testicles meant he would no longer be able to have children or make enough testosterone, which affects his ability to have sex. I hope to remind them of the importance of compassionate care. Flanary grew up in Houston, Texas. Please see our. "I got on to see, where are you all the time? Dr. Glaucomflecken hasn't responded to me and probably won't. Go ahead and share this so he gets the message. Despite his best efforts, Flanary's irreverent style occasionally catches flack. Will Flanarys days are spent conducting eye exams and cataract surgeries at a private practice outside Portland, Ore. In the years since, Flanary has raised more than $50,000 for the organization. Please enter a Recipient Address and/or check the Send me a copy checkbox. "I wasn't really looking for a boyfriend or anything at the time," Kristin recalls. Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. He made a full recovery. We still dont know the cause. Q: What is the most important thing you learned from this event that youd like to pass on to others? 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. After surgery to remove the cancer, they were ready to move forward. Please confirm that you would like to log out of Medscape. Dr. Glaucomflecken's real name is Will Flanary. Orthopedic doctors are bros who love the gym. By that time, he turned from blue and purple to gray. Flanary's recovery was quick, but he needed an outlet to process his experiences. 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. Through my stories, I hope to make a difference. I made one too many jokes, got sent to the principals office, and received a conduct report to be signed by my dad. Advice for the relationships in your life and how to boost your own well-being. Dr. Glaucomflecken said he didnt want to listen to her 911 call at first because it was too hard to hear. For more news, follow Medscape on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, andYouTube. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He scheduled a doctor's appointment, which turned into emergency surgery to remove cancer. Dr. Joseph Murphy, Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection. A: Humor is how I process grief and tragedy in my life. Now you're reasserting control over the situation., Fast forward to his fourth year of residency when the Glaucomfleckens found out that Will was one of the lucky 1-2 percent of people with testicular cancer who get it in the other testicle., True to form, he made jokes. The cause for the heart attack remains a mystery. It also introduced him to the intoxication of a "like" at that time, on Facebook. Since 2016 he has become well known for making and uploading medical satire skits on Twitter, TikTok and YouTube. 2022-8-17 Follow. Once a month, just check yourself.'. Dr. Glaucomflecken (@DGlaucomflecken) November 21, 2021. [2][5] After graduating from Dartmouth, he completed his residency at the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 2017. The duo headed to Hanover. Gaur Gopal Das. Hello and welcome to Knock-Knock. Written by: ', The comments below have not been moderated, By What humor does is it allows you to take that thing and you just break it apart. There was no medical explanation for the sudden cardiac arrest. "It was almost like stand-up in a way," he says. That likely means television, whether live-action, animation, or some combination thereof. In December 2009, the couple got married. I started the Dr. Kristin is a superhero in her own right. It took the first responders five shocks, three rounds of epinephrine, and a dose of amiodarone to get Flanary's heartbeat back. 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. To hear more, attend ReSS 2020: Survivorship at 9 a.m. Saturday. And you present that to other people and you share a laugh about it on your own terms. 3h Replying to @mkarolian and @DGlaucomflecken Spring 2020, aka early Covid, tiny @LGlaucomflecken rocked the CPR, so he's to educate & entertain us still 5 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. Devdutt Pattanaik, Written by: 'Life was just more complicated at that point.'. 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. Chris Widener, Written by: Thankfully, his wife was able to perform CPR until the paramedics arrived and they were able to resuscitate him. 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,. My "Dr. Glaucomflecken" alter ego began as a creative outlet to tell painfully specific ophthalmology jokes and to cope with my own health challenges. After the trial period, membership is 199/month for 1 credit per month. It meant that he would have to go on hormone replacement therapy for the rest of his life." Whenever hes uncertain whether a given joke might go too far, he refers to a simple guiding principle: Be sure to punch up. 16:10 GMT 26 Nov 2021 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. ", Flanary's frequent contributions to the site taught him how to home in on the idiosyncrasies of various specialties. In 2010, when he was 25 years old, Will was diagnosed with testicular cancer. 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. 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. 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. A: Initially, the hardest part was sleeping at night not knowing if I would wake up in the morning. Theres this prevailing notion that you cant do the things Im doing on social media because its not professional, he said. Im fortunate to have this nice job that gives me a nice living thats always there, he said. 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. I can be pretty specific with different areas of medicine and create this world of, honestly, pretty dysfunctional people. The question is just how big his audience might be and whether what works online can translate to another medium. Three days later, he woke up in an ICU bed, recovering from a cardiac arrest. The idea is in the very early stages, Flanary said, but hes been working with an outside firm to press things forward. Thankfully, Dr Glaucomflecken has a prescription for that. 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. How do you know the little idiosyncrasies so well? He had raised over US$100,000 for the organization as of January 2022. Price. Neurosurgeons are just a tad confident. $15.00. For nonmedical personnel, Flanarys videos give insight and a few tips in dealing with a world most only see from the patient side. Learn More That can be a tricky proposition. 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. Transcript Will: [00:00:00] Knock, knock, knock. 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