Many of you may know him as the 'sexiest doctor alive' named by People magazine or Dr. Mike on Youtube. Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, is a family Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine who uses social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube to educate people about the field of medicine alongside making hilarious content related to medicine.
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Dr. Mike had all eyes on him this past week but not because he posted a new Youtube video or because of his looks but instead because pictures surfaced of him partying in Miami mist the Coronavirus pandemic. According to the New York Post , Dr. Mike was celebrating his 31st birthday with his friends on a private boat. Images of him at the birthday celebration clearly showed him without a mask, giving a woman a neck rub, and not practicing social distance with his friends.
During the entire pandemic, Dr. Mike has been emphasizing the use of a mask and keeping social distance whether it be on national television or his youtube channel. Ironically, he was not taking his own professional medical advice on how to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Having received so much backlash from the media and his followers he responded to all the controversy by uploading a youtube video called, Admitting When I'm Wrong.
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In the four-minute video, he discusses the entire incident and what he learned from it. He mentions the precautionary steps that he took when deciding to attend the belated birthday party his friends had planned for him. There are screenshots from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website that are included to show that he did think about trying to be safe during his trip. At one moment in the video, he states, "This risk level was okay" discussing the point that he knew and accepted the fact that he could catch and spread the Coronavirus by attending his birthday bash and decided to go through with his plans. Doctor Mike ends up admitting that what he did is wrong but only because he did not want his action to discredit the medical advice and research done on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
His apology felt heartfelt from the end of a Youtube subscriber to Dr. Mike's channel but for some, his apology didn't seem 100% from the heart. Firstly he posted his apology on his Doctor Mike Clips that only has 63.4K subscribers and not on his main channel Doctor Mike with almost 6.5 Million subscribers. Deciding not to upload his apology on his main channel is upsetting because in a way it seems like he didn't want people the majority of his followers to get the message that he made a mistake. Further, the apology was only recently uploaded about three days ago, about a day after the media published the images from the party when in reality the incident occurred a couple of weeks ago. Many seem to believe that his apology only surfaced because the pictures did too and if they didn't there wouldn't be an Admitting When I'm Wrong video uploaded.
With the COVID-19 cases increasing every day especially after Thanksgiving, focusing on Doctor Mike's mistake is essential for everyones safety. With the power that he holds as an influencer people might follow in his footsteps and disregard medical advice that prevents the spread of the Coronavirus. Additionally, with him not posting his apology on his main channel many might not know of his mistake and choose to do the same and go party, since a doctor was able to do that. Incorrect actions such as Doctor Mike's need to be addressed and talked about in order to inform people about what exactly are the right things to do during this pandemic in order to keep everyone safe.
