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Doc on the Street: Answering Patients' Tough Questions

— YouTuber and physician Dr. Mike answers medical questions from strangers

MedpageToday

In this video, Mikhail Varshavski, DO -- who goes by "Dr. Mike" on social media -- takes to the streets of New York City for a new episode of Curbside Consult.

Following is a partial transcript of the video (note that errors are possible):

Varshavski: You might be wondering why I'm in Central Park answering people's medical questions. Well, traditionally in the United States it's hard to get healthcare, and health literacy needs some work. I'm a real doctor. You knew this because you watch the videos?

Female Interviewee 1: Yeah. I watch your videos, yeah.

Varshavski: What's your favorite video?

Female Interviewee 1: Um...

Varshavski: She's lying right now.

Female Interviewee 1: No!

Varshavski: I'll change the question. Name one video you watched.

Female Interviewee 1: Oh, your reactions to the "Grey's Anatomy."

Varshavski: Okay. Okay. I'll take it. What have you seen on TikTok, in the media, that you're like, "Oh, is this BS?"

Female Interviewee 1: Is there going to be like male birth control anytime soon?

Female Passerby: Say it again for everyone in the back, like way in the back of the park.

Varshavski: Who are the ... Hey, Dan, get it for those people in the back over there, just to make sure that they hear it. I think that within the next 5 years there will definitely be multiple options. Whether it'll be a shot, a medication, a patch, remains to be seen.

There are male birth control options. Vasectomies do exist, and while this is considered a permanent type of birth control for men, it can be reversible in some cases.

Male Interviewee 1: Is it really better to be a vegetarian? Or is it better to eat meat?

Varshavski: You can be a vegetarian, you can be a vegan, and you can eat meat, and you could have a healthy diet in both of those scenarios. But being vegan, being vegetarian, or being an omnivore does not on its own mean you're healthy.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! I'm a doctor, but I need to know how much can you press?

[Crowd laughing]

Varshavski: Get it? 'Cause it's a bench press.

Female Interviewee 2: Are crunches actually good for you?

Varshavski: Crunches are not like my go-to for increasing abdominal strength. A lot of people think you need to do a million crunches to show your abs. It's actually about your body fat content. For me, I like isometric exercises where you're holding yourself like planks. Even Pilates I'm a big fan of.

Female Interviewee 2: I'm a Pilates girl so I feel you on that.

Varshavski: Okay. Okay. Dan Owens, do you have a medical question?

Dan: No, I don't.

Varshavski: Obviously, because he knows everything because he films a YouTube channel.

Matt: I'm Matt. I'm a psychologist.

Varshavski: Oh, nice to meet you Matt. I'm Dr. Mike.

Matt: My question is, when somebody comes in and they say they have been feeling anxious or depressed, what's your approach to dealing with that? What do you do?

Varshavski: One is to make sure that I can provide support right now if necessary, whether that be medically or mentally, and two is to get them plugged in with my interdisciplinary team -- social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists -- that are all readily available, either for a crisis intervention right at that moment or something downstream where they can get plugged into the system and make sure they have access.

Matt: Evidence suggests that therapy works and has additive benefits when combined with medications, so I think that all sounds great.

Varshavski: Hi. Hi.

Male Interviewee 3/Child 1: What are like the stages through puberty?

Varshavski: My guess, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that you're wondering when the growth spurt is coming?

Male Interviewee 3/Child 1: Yeah. [Chuckles]

Varshavski: When I was going into high school, I was 6 foot 3, which is the height I am right now. At the same time, I had friends of mine who were much shorter than me going into high school that then outgrew me by senior year. So as you can tell, there is a lot of variety that happens with growth spurts. I wouldn't start thinking about "Oh, it didn't happen to me yet. I wish it would happen to me," and instead, think about how to stay healthy.

Ankle, what we are concerned about is tears of ligaments. The most commonly torn ligament is ...

Female Interviewee 3: Uh, your ankle?

Varshavski: She's just laughing at her.

Female Interviewee 4: Achilles?

Varshavski: No, it's the anterior talofibular ligament.

Female Interviewee 4: Oh, yeah. Anterior talofibular ligament.

Male Interviewee 4: What do you think the heart rate of Bigfoot would be?

Varshavski: One hundred and seventy-six.

Male Interviewee 4: Hmm. Okay.

Male Interviewee 5: Hi, Dr. Mike.

Varshavski: Hi.

Male Interviewee 5: I was just wondering --

Varshavski: I love your outfit, by the way. I love the colors. Are you are a designer? Are you in fashion?

Male Interviewee 5: I studied fashion, yeah. How do I lower my heart rate when I am anxious and stressed at work?

Varshavski: Physiologically, which means control over your own body. We can do deep breathing exercises where you're literally counting the number of seconds in-between your inhales and exhales so that you slow the process down.

Your vagus nerve, which is responsible for your parasympathetic state -- which is the rest, digest, chill state -- sometimes gets overlooked when we're breathing very fast. When you breathe deeply, you engage the diaphragm. You help facilitate that parasympathetic state so that you can calm down naturally.

It sounds like you're having some arch problems. You probably just need more arch support.

[Sam unimpressed]

Female Interviewee 5/Child 2: I want to become a doctor too.

Varshavski: Really? Okay, what kind?

Female Interviewee 5/ Child 2: Like helping people like not be sick.

Varshavski: To be honest, if you were my doctor, I'd take it and I'd love it. Maybe in the future you could be my doctor. Deal?

Female Interviewee 5/Child 2: Deal.

Student Doctor/Female Interviewee 6: What's your biggest, I guess, advice going through interviews for residency?

Varshavski: Okay. Well, I have to ask. What type of residency are you applying to?

Student Doctor/Female Interviewee 6: Family medicine. That's why I'm like, "Oh my god."

Varshavski: That's why this is like meant to be right now. I interview people for family medicine residencies all the time. We're looking for people to work with that are going to be motivated, that have gone through a struggle, that have experienced things in their lives. Really, that's what being human is about. So try and be human as much as possible because we don't want robots. We want humans to interact with other humans. That's why AI's not taking over our jobs just yet.

Male Interviewee 6: Okay, for fitness.

Varshavski: Ooh, ooh, ooh. We got a good one!

Male Interviewee 6: Okay. So you know how like creatine's like a big, obviously ... ?

Varshavski: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Male Interviewee 6: Is there like an appropriate amount of like creatine intake that someone should take if they are working out?

Varshavski: Creatine helps facilitate anaerobic exercise, meaning that if you're pushing a weight for a short duration, if you're sprinting, that's where you're going to get the biggest benefits of creatine. You're not going to see it if you're trying to run a marathon. Just taking the five milligrams as a single dose is more than enough --

Male Interviewee 6: Yeah.

Varshavski: -- after an exercise session. All right, we got good questions.

Male Interviewee 6: Let's go! Thank you.

Varshavski: We got good questions.

Student Doctor/Female Interviewee 6: Thank you.

, is a board-certified family physician and social media influencer with more than 10 million subscribers.