Q&A: Merging comedy into professionalism with ‘Dr. Glaucomflecken’

William “Dr. Glaucomflecken” Flanary, MD, is an ophthalmic comedian, merging humor with education in a way that is anything other than dry.

Through trial and error, Flanary has been successful in educating through humor and building a social following that has led to accredited academic presentations, all the while navigating his cancer diagnosis.

Flanary continues to build his following on TikTok and tells Healio/OSN about his work with First Descents and the importance of a good laugh.

Healio/OSN: How did you get started in comedy, and how has that tied into your medical career?

Flanary: I started doing open mic stand-up comedy in high school. I always thought of it as a hobby because I knew I wanted to go to medical school early on in life. Eventually in medical school it got a little too complicated, so I decided that I did not have time, and I stopped doing stand-up so much and started transitioning over to doing more comedy writing because comedy was my outlet.

I got involved with Gomerblog, which is a medical satire website, and eventually discovered Twitter, which was perfect for what I was looking for because it is short, easily digestible and perfect for telling jokes. I started telling jokes, mostly just ophthalmology audiences, and then started branching out, exploring other formats. As my medical career progressed, it felt separate, but also in a lot of ways one informs the other.

Healio/OSN: How has your social media presence affected you on a professional level?

Flanary: Honestly, it hasn’t. When I was a resident, I had an anonymous account using the pseudonym Dr. Glaucomflecken because there is this pervasive idea or feeling that doctors have to abide by a code of professionalism, which is true to a certain extent but a little bit blown out of proportion. I think it is unattainable for people, and that is why you see so many anonymous accounts on social media from medical students because they do not feel comfortable saying what is on their mind out of fear of backlash.

When I finished residency, I felt more secure with the idea that I would not get backlash from people who view what I do as inappropriate. I don’t think it is inappropriate — it is misconstrued, and that is why I talk about this a lot with professionals and trainees.

Healio/OSN: Why do you think comedy is an effective method of outreach, especially for Twitter and TikTok?

Flanary: Especially over the course of this year, it is extremely important, and I get messages all the time from people saying how much they appreciate it. The pandemic has been so difficult for everyone, and laughing is a natural thing. Whenever you don’t have it in your life, it affects your mood and your interactions with people. In some ways, it is surprising that there are not as many people out there doing what I do, and I wish it were more common because we are in a field in which there is so much gravity to what we do. It has resonated with people and is a big part of why I do it.

Healio/OSN: What has your experience been performing at academic meetings?

Flanary: That has been a trial-and-error thing for me because it is relatively new in terms of doing comedy at conferences. It has been a couple of years from when I first started getting invited to conferences and speaking engagements, and what I learned is that doing strictly comedy at a conference is not the best way to go about doing what I do because people come to medical conferences with an expectation to learn. I found it is more effective to blend the comedy with education because that is what people are there for.

Over the course of the last couple of years, my approach has evolved; now I do a lot of speaking for non-ophthalmology audiences. It is a niche I tapped into because I know just how little ophthalmology they know, it is an area that has been neglected, and I am able to teach these topics as an ophthalmologist in a way that is funny and engaging.

Healio/OSN: What is First Descents, and how has your social media tied into that effort?

Flanary: My cancer history is a big part of my comedy background because when I was diagnosed with testicular cancer in medical school, I needed that outlet. I process difficult things in life through humor. When I was diagnosed a second time in residency, that is when I found, with the help of my wife, this organization called First Descents, which provides support for young adults with cancer.

Cancer in your 20s and 30s is a lonely experience because it is often a somewhat forgotten population of patients. This organization helps bring young adults with cancer together to help form this support network with each other.

I have this this audience on social media, so I tried to tap into that, not only to help raise money, but also because I have an audience full of medical professionals, and I wanted everybody to know about this organization.

Healio/OSN: What would you like to tell our audience about what you do?

Flanary: Go check it out, laugh, let your hair down a little bit.

One of the big things I want is for people to see what I do and realize that you can be yourself on social media. The walls of professionalism, it is OK for those to come down a little bit because patients want to see that their doctors are normal people. That paternalistic notion that doctors are on this pedestal is not great for the patient-physician relationship, and it is not good for young doctors to feel like they have to hide themselves in the name of professionalism because that contributes to physician burnout.

I hope that people, especially young people, can see what I am doing and realize that you can have a sense of humor on social media and not cross any boundaries. I am able to show emotions, talk about the difficult things that have happened in my life and show that vulnerability I feel for a long time has been really hard for doctors to show. Doing that is going to help us all in the long run with our relationships with each other and with our patients.