Comedian, Healthcare Advocate ‘Dr. Glaucomflecken’ Uses Satire to Spotlight Critical Advocacy Issues

Known to his 4.4 million social media followers as Dr. Glaucomflecken, comedian and ophthalmologist Will Flanary, MD, will return to the AAOS 2025 Annual Meeting in San Diego for the annual donor appreciation luncheon of the Political Action Committee of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (OrthoPAC) on Tuesday, March 11. Dr. Flanary will bring his signature blend of comedy and advocacy to highlight the importance of a collective orthopaedic voice working to advance critical health policy issues.

Dr. Flanary’s humor not only resonates with millions of people but has served as a personal coping mechanism and helped pull him through hard times. Having faced significant health challenges, including two testicular cancer diagnoses—the first during his third year of medical school at Dartmouth and a recurrence during his residency at the University of IowaÑand sudden cardiac arrest in 2020, Dr. Flanary offers a unique perspective and understanding of the patient experience. Although his social media persona began as a creative outlet to use his comedic talents to make ophthalmology jokes, it has evolved into pointed satire about navigating the U.S. healthcare system, insurance complexities such as prior authorization and automatic claim denials, and systemic medical conflicts.

Cassim M. Igram, MD, FAAOS, AAOS Now Editorial Board member, sat down with Dr. Flanary to explore his dual passions for medicine and comedy and how their intersection has positioned him as a leading voice in healthcare advocacy.

Dr. Igram: What initially drew you to medicine?
Dr. Flanary: My dad was an aerospace engineer, and from an early age, I knew I would not be an engineer. Around middle school, I became interested in biology, physiology, and the human body. This was the first time I thought it would be fun to be a doctor and learn about the human body. While I knew medicine would be in my future, I was always a funny kid and enjoyed making my friends laugh, so at the end of the day, I wanted to do both.

Rumor has it your mom was your sixth-grade teacher, and it did not end well for you.
Yes! My mom taught sixth-grade language arts and math, and placing me in her class was a terrible idea. It should come as no surprise that I was a class clown and acted up a lot, as I always did. My mom was always harder on me because she did not want to show favoritism, and she actually sent me to the principal’s office a couple of times, even giving me a discipline report. I had to go home and have my dad sign it. It was an absolute mess! But I loved making my friends laugh, leading me to try stand-up comedy when I was 17.

Can you tell me more about your comedic journey?
I loved the feeling of being on stage and making people laugh out loud. There’s no other feeling like it, and I was hooked. Even though I bombed my first set, I kept at it.

I continued performing stand-up in medical school, but keeping up with the late-night sets became challenging. It can be very difficult to make a career out of comedy. Not that practicing medicine is easier, but it is harder in a different way. For me, comedy was a hobby and a way to explore my creative side, and later in life, [it helped me cope with challenging times].

Your comedy resonates and draws people together because it articulates unspoken thoughts in medicine. When did you realize the impact of your work?
When I first started making skits [to post as videos on social media], I wish I could say I was doing it for the betterment of medicine, but it was purely selfish. I wanted to be funny and build an audience.

Standup comedy, at its essence, is a very selfish thing to do because you’re like, “Everyone, look at me. Look at how funny I am and laugh at this thing I’ve created.” But over time, it did turn into something I recognized as helping people once I started receiving that feedback.

During the pandemic, when morale was bad and it was tough for many people, I began receiving messages from followers saying, “Thank you for making me laugh. I watched your videos with my colleagues; it was the first time we laughed in weeks.” That hit me like a ton of bricks. I had no idea my content would have that kind of an impact. This whole Glaucomflecken thing came around at the right time, and having this type of impact is something I don’t take lightly. This was part of the reason I kept going and making these videos as often as I possibly could.

Your personas play upon real-life stereotypes. My resident introduced me to Doc Vader, and some of your other characters include Jimothy, insurance company representative, hospital administrator, pharmacy benefits manager, and let’s not forget Ortho Bro. How did you develop these personas?
There are very strong personality stereotypes in medicine that have existed throughout time. I even receive feedback from people worldwide saying, “It is the same in Peru as it is in the United States.” These characters resonate and allow people to relate to these personalities no matter the stage of their career or where they are located. When it comes to ortho, secretly, you are the smartest people in the hospital. As an ophthalmologist, I respect the grift.

Cassim M. Igram, MD, FAAOS, is a clinical professor in the departments of orthopaedic surgery and neurosurgery at the University of Iowa. He is a member of the AAOS Now Editorial Board, treasurer of OrthoPAC, and a member of the AAOS Committee on Professionalism.

OrthoPAC is affiliated with and connected to the 501(c)(6) Association. OrthoPAC is not connected to or affiliated with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, which is a 501(c)(3) organization.