Dr. Glaucomflecken
Ophthalmologist and Medical Comedy Creator
Will Flanary is an ophthalmologist practicing in the United States who built a following on social media, particularly Twitter and YouTube, through sketch comedy videos performed under the pseudonym Dr. Glaucomflecken. His format involves playing multiple characters — medical specialties, insurance company representatives, hospital administrators, and patients — in short videos that satirize the American healthcare system's administrative burdens, prior authorization processes, and the cultural dynamics between medical specialties.
The sketch format has resonated widely with healthcare workers who recognize the situations depicted, including prior authorization denials, documentation requirements, and the gap between administrative priorities and clinical care. His comedy has also attracted general audiences interested in understanding why patients and physicians alike find navigating the US healthcare system frustrating. The satirical targets — particularly insurance companies and hospital administration — reflect perspectives shared by many healthcare workers, though critics of those portrayals might note they present one-sided accounts of complex systemic dynamics.
Flanary has been open about significant personal health experiences including testicular cancer and a cardiac arrest, which gave him firsthand experience as a patient within the healthcare system he had previously known only from the provider side. He has discussed these experiences in both comedic and serious contexts, and they have shaped the content of his podcast and longer-form discussions about physician wellness, burnout, and the emotional dimensions of medical practice.
His work is categorized as entertainment-adjacent advocacy rather than medical education. The comedy functions as a vehicle for articulating frustrations that have substantive policy dimensions — including debates about insurance company involvement in clinical decision-making — but he does not present clinical guidance. His podcast "Knock Knock Hi" takes a more conversational approach to healthcare topics than his sketch format. He maintains his clinical practice alongside his content work.