#154 How I Fulfilled My Calling as Both a Doctor and a Comedian Through Social Media

Hey, everyone. I think you all know I love talking to physicians, doctors who want more, who are doing things outside the box, having fun, following their passions and creating amazing impact. This week I'm sharing an interview that I did with Dr. Will Flannery. You might know him better as Dr. Glaucom Flecken. He's amassed a huge following on social media, somebody that I follow personally and I thought it would just be fun to hear about his story, his. His journey and how he ultimately uses social media to fulfill his calling as both a doctor and his passion as a comedian. This will be a fun one, so enjoy. Welcome to the Passive Income MD Podcast where we talk about creating your ideal life through multiple streams of income. I'm your host, Peter Kim. If you enjoy hearing about this stuff, make sure to hit subscribe so I can bring it to you every week. Now let's get on with the show.

Foreign. Hey everyone. I know you're really excited about this talk. I am as well. We're going to talk to Dr. Will Flannery. He's otherwise known as Dr. Glaucom Flecken. I hope I said that right. Approximate times he is. He's an orthologist by training, but many of you know him as a media personality. He's all over YouTube, TikTok. He's got this brand around media and medicine and humor and he does it all with amazing grace and people just have a ton of fun with it. Brings a lot of joy to our community and I'm excited to talk to him today. Will, how you doing?

Pretty good. Thanks for having me on. This is great.

Yeah, I'm excited to really have you just because I've been watching your stuff for quite a while. For people who may not know exactly.

Who you are, do you mind just.

Sharing, like, what is Dr. Glock complain? What is that about?

So I, I record myself alone in my bedroom or my office dressing up as any one of like 20 different specialties in medicine. And I post the videos on TikTok, which is an app designed for 18 year olds. So yeah, that's that. That's about the gist of it.

That's probably more than that. But I think most people find your stuff so they know out of it and it has a lot to do with comedy and humor. Let me ask, like, has it always been part of your life? I'm sure like part of your personality is coming out, but when you started in medicine, did you always think you were going to have like comedy as part of who you are?

Yeah. You know that was always important to me because it's, it was, it's been my hobby for a long time. I started doing stand up comedy just as an amateur, going to open mics and stuff in Houston, where I grew up. And So I was 17 years old at the time. In fact, I couldn't, I couldn't be at a comedy club past a certain time at night. I had to, I got kicked out because I guess it's not safe for a 17 year old to be there past like 9 o' clock at night. But it was, I did it with a friend of mine. It was a fun hobby. I was always kind of the class clown, if you can imagine that. And, and so it was just a fun, you know, creative outlet for me. And, but I always, you know, I never really seriously considered it as a career because, I don't know, it seemed like a really hard thing to break into and become famous and really make a living doing stand up comedy. So I went the much easier route of becoming a doctor. But I continued doing comedy. It was a really important hobby to me. And that's something that I always talk about with physicians and especially residents and med students is like, medicine can very easily take over your life. And so you need to just actively try to hold on to those things outside of medicine that kind of make you who you are.

Yeah. How are you able to keep that though? I mean, with being busy medicine and your, your obviously residency and practice, you said you still kept your hand in them.

Like, how were you able to do that?

Yeah, I mean, it was, you know, at first I was still like, in med school, I was still going out to comedy clubs and stuff. That was before, you know, we, we had a kid and, you know, I was, had a little bit easier schedule like the first couple years of med school to do those types of things. Once I got into third year and I, you know, just was on clinical rotations and traveling around to do those rotations, it just became a lot harder. And so that's when I actually turned to social media. And so that was just like a surrogate for standup for me. Being on Twitter, I was able to tell jokes and build an audience and it was far less time consuming than writing out material and, and, and driving to a comedy club. You know, I, you lost that, you know, in person, you know, feel, obviously. But it was, it was better than nothing. And it allowed me to maintain those, those kind of comedic juices flowing.

I mean, were you worried about how things would like kind of, maybe some pushback in the medical community, because obviously all your comedy is about medicine and stuff like that.

Yeah.

Concerned about that with your career?

That's a good question. I was anonymous at first. You know, Glockenflek and obviously is not my real name, although some people call my office asking to speak with Dr. Glockenflek and thinking that is my real name. So, you know, at first I was anonymous. And you see that a lot, A lot of people are a little scared of pushback. And the reason for that is because, you know, for a long time, it's not really accepted to. To have this sense of humor, really show any emotion whatsoever as a physician, especially publicly. And so, you know, it's. For a lot of people who are anonymous on social media, especially trainees, it's. It's more like, you know, they, they want to talk about some of the things in their life that are difficult, and they feel like they're going to get pushback from the people that are in charge of them. And that's kind of unfortunate. And I think in a lot of ways it's starting to change a little bit. People are, you know, more accepting of the kind of the human side of physicians, and we need. We need that. And so. But that was why I was nervous. I was scared. You know, I'm telling jokes, I'm making fun of things, and, and, you know, you know, I didn't want to screw up and, and get in trouble and lose my ability to practice medicine. And I think in the end, though, in knowing what I know now, I think those fears were a little bit overblown because I wasn't, like, making fun of patients. I wasn't. I was making fun of other doctors and specialties. And you guys have probably seen my videos. It's all, you know, attending to. Attending specialists to specialist conflicts and stuff. And so. And patients, the ones that come in to see me, they love it. Who have seen my videos, like, they, they absolutely love it. And so the, the idea that this will get me into trouble for my career, I think is a feeling that was overblown, but at the time, it felt very necessary.

So then when did that shift for you?

That probably really when I went into private practice and I became my own boss, I didn't, I didn't really have to answer anybody, but, you know, myself and my, My, my partners. And so I just felt more secure in my position in medicine. And, And I also just, I knew what I was doing at that point with comedy. Like, I knew what to stay away from. I just I felt more comfortable making fun of things and knowing what to make fun of, what not to make fun of. And so. And then I started making videos, and once my face was out there, then it was like, okay, well, why am I keeping up the charade of trying to be anonymous? And. And then very quickly, you know, because people wanted, like, interviews with me and to write articles and stuff, and my name was going to be out there anyway. And so I was like, okay, well, I'll still go by Dr. Glock and flecking, because that's. That's more famous than my real name at this point. And so. But I don't, you know, obviously now I'm not anonymous at all.

When did this all start to really become something significant for you? Like, in terms of time, in terms of where it was going?

Obviously, it's become huge.

When did that.

Yeah, yeah, it's. Yeah, there have been times where it's taken, like, leaps. So for about three years, I was just telling jokes on Twitter. It was very manageable. It was not a really a big part of my life. And then when the pandemic hit, I started making videos, and that's when things started getting a little bit busier because it's a little bit more time consuming to write the skits out and to film them and edit them and all this stuff. And so it started to take up a little bit more chunk of my time. And then once I started gaining a big enough following, I started doing virtual talks during the pandemic, and then it started taking up a little bit more time. It just. And that's the thing when you have something that. A hobby or just something that you really spend a lot of time cultivating and getting better at at this point. And I got really good at the medical comedy because I was just doing it so much and will take over your life. It'll take up as much of your time as you let it. Right? And. And that's what it was for me. You know, I. I started. I got. I started getting so many requests to do different things, make personalized videos. And so I started Cameo. That's where I, you know, people, you know, hire me to say happy birthday or congratulations for whatever it is. And then. And then I started getting, like, speaking requests, and I started, you know, that became a part of this overall business. And so it just. These are things I didn't really so much seek out. They just. They just started coming to me just by virtue of. Of this thing I was doing that was very popular. And. And it Just it's going now we have a podcast with, you know, my wife and I do this podcast, Knock Knock High. And that has also, you know, taken. So I basically now I have like two full time jobs because I still practice ophthalmology four days a week and then, and my one day off per week plus weekends and nights I am filming skits and answering emails and putting talks together.

I mean, obviously it must be worth it for you to put in the time. Both from a passion perspective, but hopefully financially for you, it actually makes sense too.

Yeah, you know, it's, it all started passion. Yeah, that was the. Because again, I really like making people laugh. And so that's, that's really the origin of all this, which I think is key with any endeavor that you do. If I was to like say I'm going to, I'm going to make, I'm going to make this social media presence so that I can make X amount of money on the side, I don't think it would, it would come across as genuine. It wouldn't be as, it wouldn't be as popular as it is. So. But I put the time into getting better at it and, and getting better at editing and getting better at writing and, and, and, and forming jokes that the, the financial compensation just started coming whenever I, you know, started taking on these things that were presented to me. And at this point, yeah, it's, it's a really nice little side gig that I have going on, you know, because I have my job as an ophthalmologist and then, you know, I have this other thing that pays pretty well, you know, as well. And it's just nice that you, that you do something, you do it well enough that people are willing to pay you money for it. And there's nothing wrong with that. You know, it's, I think it's our, in the end, everybody's time is valuable and, and we need to value that time. So, you know, I, I tell people, you know, not to feel bad about asking for money for doing things, you know, because it's your time and you only have so much of that now.

How has this impacted the way you now look at your, your medical career? To have this as well and putting that all together in terms of your career life and kind of how you see things going, moving on.

You know, it's, you know, for me a lot of this has been. A creative outlet, but also a coping mechanism because of the health issues I've had. So people who aren't familiar I've had testicular cancer twice I've had a cardiac arrest. And I used comedy to really help me get through those events in my life. And if you follow me on social media, you know, I talk about this all the time, I make videos about it and all this stuff. And so those experiences have really shaped my humor, my comedy, and also have helped me move into more advocacy too, because social media is a great place to do advocacy. And so in my experiences with the health insurance industry and, you know, talking about things like academic publishing and private equity and some of the systems that take advantage of healthcare professionals. And so that's been a more recent area within the past year that I've explored. And that's just added to the kind of, the richness of the experience for me, because now it's not just, I'm not just telling jokes, I'm like, telling jokes, but also trying to do my part, whatever I can do to bring awareness to some of these issues. And the fact that I, you know, it's, it's fun to combine the two. The, the humor and the advocacy.

I mean, I know that there are other people who have these, like, creative outlets and they've always felt like, as a physician, they haven't had the opportunity to let those kind of out and they maybe think they don't have the time, the energy. This kind of stuff, like, would be. Ask you about that, like, what kind of, like, how do you, what kind of advice you give those people?

Yeah, you know, it's, it's every, every minute you spend on something takes a minute from somewhere else. Right. And so there are sacrifices I've made. You know, I don't keep up with friends and family probably as much as I should, and, and that's kind of a choice I've made. And, and, and, you know, I, I probably, you know, I need, I know I need to reallocate things from time to time and spend less time on certain things. And so that's a, a shifting focus is where do you spend your time? But if something is really important to you, it's, you know, you, you, you gotta try to find the time and, you know, figure out where, where you can go. What do you. Are you spending too much time on social media? Like, not doing anything, not doing anything productive? For me, I couldn't. I. My work schedule is what really allows me as an ophthalmologist, what allows me to take on all this stuff, all this extra stuff. Like. And if I was any other part of medicine, fortunately, as an ophthalmologist, I have that. I have that ability. I have, I have those weekends, I have holidays and, and evenings and stuff. And so I can, I have that time. And sometimes, you know, if your work schedule doesn't allow you to do it, you. You just either, you know, there might be limits to how far you can take something, how far you can take a project, but you have to. That's really a personal thing to decide. You know, what do you leave behind and what do you. To. To. To free up more time for something that you're passionate about. And that's a really personal thing. It's hard to. Hard to really, you know, make that decision.

I mean, how do you keep coming up with content, though? How do you. Where do all these ideas come from? I'm sure people see a ton of that. How do you keep those juices going?

Yeah, I have a running list of, of skit ideas and I. So one of the great things about being on social media, so I follow people from all different areas of medicine on different platforms, and if there's one thing you can count on, it's people complaining about their jobs on social media. And so I just pay attention to those things. Like, what are nephrologists, like, really annoyed by? Like, what are the things they're talking about? And I'll, like, if I get an idea, I see a tweet or a comment on TikTok or something, and I was like, oh, that let me explore that. Let me see what that's all about. And then I'll, like, search on Reddit. I'll go to these different websites that Reddit's actually a great resource for, like, things that, like, pet peeves in medicine and things like conflicts between people and, and so I'll, I'll look sometimes I'll look through Reddit threads that are like, you know, 10, 12 years old, and that'll help me just get a, a jumping off point for a skit idea and. And then I'll just sit down and write it. But it becomes more difficult with every passing year because in ophthalmology, we're pretty isolated from the rest of medicine. And so I don't, I don't have experience in internal medicine anymore. Like, everything. If I don't get it from my own experience in my one year of internship and like, a couple of rotations in med school, I got to, like, do some significant research to figure it out. And so it's, That's a big part of it.

I mean, time consuming. I mean, do you feel like the space is Pretty saturated now with doctors and social media. Do you think there's potential for a lot of people to step into that space and still kind of.

Yeah. Oh, yeah, there's definitely room for. I mean, look, we need more like trusted physician voices and just health care professional voices on social media, because that's where patients are. People are getting their information on social media. You don't have to tell jokes. You know, I. That is what I prefer to do because no one really wants to come to me for education. I mean, come on, they want me to tell jokes. But we need people doing all the things. We need people showing the human side of being a physician, but also like to give education. And so I am in favor of anybody who puts out responsible content, whether it's funny or not, because it just. We need to do a lot, I think, to repair the trust that the public has with health care workers in a lot of ways. I think that's. That's been a challenge over the last few years and social media is the way to do it because that's where people are.

I mean, I know people are going to hear this story and it's cool for the first time, they're going to hear some of this backstory. They're going to want to connect with you. Maybe. What are some of the places where people can find out more about, you see some of the things you're doing in case they have no idea where to do that.

So I'm on. You can find me on TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, really, if you just search Glockenflekken, which G, L, A, U, C, O, M. Oh, there you go. You got it right there on the screen.

Flecking, by the way.

Yeah, yeah, Glockenflekken. See, if I knew it would turn into this, I would have chosen an easier name to say. It's a little ridiculous, but it's actually a thing in ophthalmology. It's a finding you find you see on the. On the lens, inside the eye after a setting, after an episode of angle closure glaucoma, which is where you get really high eye pressure that causes damage to things inside the eye, like the optic nerve and other things. Hilarious, right? It's like. Of course, the thing is, I was just trying to come up with the most ridiculous word I could think of in ophthalmology. And so obviously it was going to be glock and fleck. And so you can find. But you can find me. I'm on. Yeah, I'm on the different social media platforms and there's my website right there, glockandflecken.com that has information about also where to find me, but, like, speaking and, you know, if you want to book me for events and stuff.

So, yeah, awesome. I, I recommend everybody check it out. If somebody was to fall in your footsteps, what's, what's one big piece of advice or a tip that you can give them as they get started.

Be, be genuine. You know, be yourself. But also, you know, you're making content for social media. Don't make fun of patients. Punch up, don't punch down. Don't. You know, there's a reason that med students put on skits making fun of their attendings. And it's really funny. But if attendings were to make fun of med students, it would be horrifying. So obey those rules. Obey the hierarchies of paying attention to where you're pointing, your ridicule, because that's, that'll get you into trouble. But above all else, you know, you cannot make fun of patients because that undermines the patient physician relationship and the trust that the public has in us. So please don't do that. Avoid HIPAA violations, you know, all those types of things. But most importantly, just, yeah, yeah, really figure out what you're good at and what you want to talk about. And if you're passionate about what you're talking about on social media, that's going to come through. And, and if you, the more you do something, including posting on social media, the better you're going to get at it. All right, so just keep it up.

Awesome. Well, it's been great talking to you. Thanks for taking the time. I know you're busy, but you've got some, probably some videos to create at this point. Keep up the amazing work. I know we're all enjoying it. Know that there are a ton of people who are in support of what you're doing and just having a great time and you're bringing a lot of really fun and joy into medicine. And again, so thanks so much for all you do, and let's talk again soon.

Yeah, thanks a lot, Peter.

All right, thanks.

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