Knock Knock, Hi! with the Glaucomfleckens

What happens when your med school doesn’t like your TikToks? This week, we talk to Dr. Kumail Hussain, a physician who went viral for his medical content… and got in serious trouble for it. We dig into the story that followed: professionalism hearings, probation, and the ripple effects that followed him into residency. But this isn’t just about one doctor’s social media misstep, it’s about what me...

I’m back with part two of my “life lessons at 40” and yes, it’s even more random than part one. From safety glasses and social media boundaries to testicle self-exams (yes, really), I’m sharing the wisdom I’ve collected over four decades. Plus, a neuro-ophthalmology curveball: a patient with mismatched pupils and a mystery diagnosis that turns out to be a Horner syndrome. Takeaways: Why you should...

We’re back with a follow-up to the “no inner monologue” chaos, but this time, we’re going deeper. Kristin and I unpack what it actually feels like when your brain disconnects, how trauma can flip your reality switch, and why dissociation might just be your mind’s weirdest defense mechanism. Then we shift gears into something truly wild: the microscopic villains that can give you cancer. Yep, your...

I just turned 40 and I’ve learned a few things along the way. Some about eyeballs, some about life, and a few the hard way (looking at you, hot tub corneal ulcer). In this special two-part birthday series, I’m sharing the lessons, advice, and random pearls I’ve picked up over four decades from why you should never argue with trolls online to how flossing can save your sanity. It’s a mix of serious...

Some episodes wander. This one sprints from childhood trauma (aka the Presidential Fitness Test pull-up requirement) to the ethics of free speech on social media, to guts literally spilling outside the body in a crash course on gastroschisis and omphalocele. Kristin and I also talk about why doctors get in trouble online, how to avoid losing your job with one bad post, and the weird dynamic of bei...

What happens when the president tells pregnant patients to “tough it out” instead of taking Tylenol? And why are accomplished physicians standing on stage making claims that don’t hold up to the evidence? This week I’m diving into the mess of misinformation, the dangers it creates, and the patients who end up paying the price. Then, to balance the outrage with some ophthalmology, I’m taking you de...

Some things in healthcare are forgivable mistakes. This wasn’t one of them. Kristin and I dive into the shocking story of a group of healthcare workers who thought it was a good idea to post exam-room paper from pelvic exams online. Spoiler: they’re not working in medicine anymore. But the fallout reveals something bigger, the fragile state of public trust in doctors and what happens when we keep...

What if the only thing that could truly unite this country was our collective rage at health insurance companies? This week, I’m handing out my best social media survival advice (step one: don’t get fired), sharing the rare thrill of bringing vision back from the brink, and digging into why bloody tears are a real thing. Plus, we’ll talk colorblindness, cataracts, and maybe even which of your five...

I’ve been to a lot of medical conferences, but veterinary medicine conferences are different. Picture me, a human ophthalmologist, standing in front of a thousand vets, showing them photos of my dog Milo’s eyes (because why not?). Turns out, they loved it and then immediately called me out for doing the exact thing they can’t stand about human doctors. Oops. Kristin and I also get into the strange...

In honor of Pain Awareness Month, we’re excited to share an episode from one of our favorite healthcare podcasts, “Bendy Bodies with Dr. Linda Bluestein.” In this recent interview, Dr. Bluestein sat down with Dr. Zach Spiritos, a neurogastroenterologist, to explore why gastrointestinal problems in hypermobile patients can be so difficult to detect with standard testing (and what patients and provi...

What happens when your immune system suddenly decides your eye is the enemy? This week I’m diving into one of ophthalmology’s rarest (and frankly scariest) condition, sympathetic ophthalmia. Plus, I’m talking GLP-1 miracle drugs, why residency feels like a soul-draining black hole, and whether med school should really be shorter. And yes, we’re also testing which of your eyeballs is the boss. Take...

I’ve worn a lot of hats. Physician, patient, Domino’s delivery guy, even walk-in freezer napper. But in this episode, Kristin and I dive into a conversation that’s bigger (and scarier) than my teenage pizza-ball experiments: what happens if we cut health insurance out of healthcare altogether? We start with rabies bats in Wyoming (because of course we do), wander into my old nap habits, and then h...

Ever wondered what happens when your eye jelly decides to collapse in on itself? Or why some cataract surgeons apparently get squeamish around LASIK patients (spoiler: they shouldn’t)? This episode takes you from pediatrician pep rallies to the surprisingly dark side of floaters and flashes. Along the way, I’ll rant a little, nerd out a lot, and maybe terrify you just enough to finally schedule th...

This week, it’s just me and Kristin taking a BuzzFeed quiz to figure out what kind of doctor we are—and, well, the results raise some eyebrows. We also talk about a new bill being introduced in Massachusetts and answer a listener email about surgical etiquette: should you chat during procedures or keep it strictly scalpel business? Takeaways: Kristin and I take a BuzzFeed quiz that tells us what k...

This week’s Knock Knock Eye is a little bit of everything: football, birthdays, med school reform, and one of the strangest kinds of patients I see in clinic. I talk about turning 40 (and yes, going full Chiefs fan at Arrowhead), why the fourth year of med school might be a “victory lap” worth keeping, and how Europe might actually be ahead of us when it comes to training doctors. Plus, I share wh...

When your job is literally life and death, how do you explain what that feels like to patients, to families, to anyone outside the ICU? This week on Knock Knock Hi, Kristin and I talk with Dr. Lakshman Swamy, a critical care and pulmonary doc who decided the answer might be… a board game. We get into burnout, the broken systems of ICU care, and how a game called helps players understand the imposs...

Look, I knew getting older would mess with my joints and metabolism—but no one warned me that my arms would become too short to read a menu. In this solo episode, I talk about the aging process that ruins your ability to focus on near objects—presbyopia—and why it’s just part of the over-40 starter pack. But that's not all. I’ve got thoughts about chiropractors adjusting newborns (yes, really), dr...

Sometimes the dumbest things go viral. Case in point: I guessed a basketball player’s glasses prescription online… and half the internet thought I was rating her looks. (Spoiler: I wasn’t.) In this episode of Knock Knock Hi, Kristin and I unpack my latest accidental brush with fame, the chaos of wellness misinformation clogging up TikTok, and why it feels like the internet is both the best and wor...

RFK Jr. says doctors like me don’t want you to get better. Apparently, we’re part of a vast system designed to keep you sick. So I did what any responsible, monocle-wearing ophthalmologist would do, I pulled up his tweet and walked through it point by point. In this solo episode, I talk about how this kind of medical misinformation spreads, how it erodes trust in the entire healthcare system, and...

Ever had your surgery interrupted… by UnitedHealthcare? Yeah, me neither. But that’s exactly what happened to our guest this week, the incredible Dr. Elisabeth Potter. She went viral after exposing the absurdity of insurance meddling in patient care, right down to getting pulled out of the OR for a phone call about prior authorization. In this episode, Kristin and I dig into how Dr. Potter stood u...

I love a good medical joke as much as the next ophthalmologist, but there’s one line I won’t cross and I think more of us need to hear it. In this episode, I’m talking about the state of medical comedy, why I almost stayed anonymous forever, and the one thing I’ve learned never to make fun of online. I also dive into YouTube comments, explain why onions make you cry (with the help of some very sty...

You know those mystery charges at the pharmacy that make zero sense? Yeah, turns out, there’s a whole shadowy system behind it and no, it’s not your pharmacist’s fault. This week on Knock Knock Hi, Kristin and I talk with Deborah Keaveny , president of Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT), about the tangled web of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), why your copays never go down, and...

I spent this week untangling one of the wildest New York Times stories in recent memory about organ donation. The article set off a firestorm online, and the clickbait headlines had everyone ready to rip “organ donor” off their driver’s license. But is it really that bad? I break down what’s true, what’s exaggerated, and what it means for a system that saves thousands of lives every year. Then I g...

This week, Kristen and I go full sci-fi (but, like, the real kind) with the one and only Dr. Eric Topol—cardiologist, author, and guy who’s been yelling for years that the way we do medicine is… less than ideal. We talk about how AI could transform healthcare, whether doctors are finally ready to embrace empathy, and why the average hospital still runs on fax machines and vibes. Oh—and don’t worry...

It’s just me this week, and I’m cracking open the homeopathy bottle (spoiler: it’s mostly water). From viral pseudoscience to dry eye remedies that make me blink twice, I’m taking a solo stroll through the wild world of medical misinformation. We’ll also talk about the dangers of diluted science, why TikTok is not a medical degree, and the real risks behind popular “natural” treatments. No guests,...