Mikhail "Mike" Oskarovich Varshavski[3] (Russian: Михаил Оскарович Варшавский; born November 12, 1989), known online as Doctor Mike, is an American and Russian YouTuber, internet personality, certified family physician,[4] philanthropist, and professional boxer. His Instagram account went viral after he was featured in BuzzFeed and People magazine named him The Sexiest Doctor Alive in 2015. He has a YouTube channel on which he posts medically themed entertainment videos and debunks false medical claims.
Early life
Varshavski was born on November 12, 1989, in Saransk, Russian SFSR.[5][6] His father, Oskar, who was Jewish, was born in Ukraine, and worked as a physician after graduating from the Third Medical Institute of Moscow,[7][8] while his mother, an ethnic Russian, was a mathematics professor. He has an older sister, Dasha, who was born in 1980.[9] When he was five, he and his family immigrated to Brooklyn, New York.[10] The family immigrated as refugees, and their first apartment was a $500 rent-controlled apartment with mice and cockroaches.[9]
Varshavski was given the nickname "Doctor Mike" during his high school years by friends who came to him for sports-related injuries.[11] After seeing his father's relationship with his patients, Varshavski wanted to become a doctor.[12] He enrolled in the New York Institute of Technology and was accepted for an accelerated, seven-year combined track for a bachelor's degree in life sciences and a medical degree (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) upon completion of the undergraduate program. During his first year in the NYIT medical portion of the accelerated program, his mother died of leukemia, and he decided to move back in with his father. In 2014, he started a residency at Atlantic Health System's Overlook Medical Center's Family Medicine program,[13] which he completed in 2017.
Career
In early 2012, Varshavski joined Instagram to document his life as a medical student and combat the notion that "you can't have a life in medical school".[12][14] Varshavski uses his social media to provide health information to millennials.[15]
Varshavski gained media attention in August 2015 when BuzzFeed published an article about him titled "Um, You Really Need To See This Hot Doctor And His Dog" that highlighted his good looks and his relationship with his dog, a Husky named Roxy. In 2024, he bought another Newfoundland dog named Rib.
[16] That November, People magazine named him "the Sexiest Doctor Alive" in its Sexiest Man Alive issue,[13] popularizing his Instagram account.[5]
In 2017, a year after he launched his YouTube channel, Varshavski gave a TEDx Talk on "The epidemic of the 'I Know It All' expert" at a TEDxMonteCarlo event. The video of that speech has been viewed more than 3 million times.[17]
In 2018, after his residency, he joined Chatham Family Medicine, a family practice with Atlantic Health System, in Chatham, New Jersey.[18]
Varshavski made his amateur boxing debut in May 2022 against influencer iDubbbz as the headline fight in the Creator Clash boxing event.[22][23] He won his match against iDubbbz in a unanimous decision.[24] Varshavski made his professional debut against Chris Avila on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva.[25] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
In September 2022, he launched a health related podcast on his YouTube channel named "The Checkup Podcast with Doctor Mike", which was renamed to "The Checkup with Doctor Mike". The podcast covers subjects related to sexual health, mental health, physical health, and social health. Varshavski has interviewed friends, medical professionals, athletes, comedians and actors. Guests have included Steve-O, KSI,[26]Tony Hale, Dane Cook, Hannah Brown, Marques Brownlee, Steve Madden, Steven He, Barbara Corcoran, Kal Penn, and Brandon Marshall.
Philanthropy
In late 2015, Varshavski established a foundation, Limitless Tomorrow, to provide scholarships to students, and he has raised money for it by auctioning experiences with himself through his social media accounts.[14][27] In January 2016, the dating app Coffee Meets Bagel collaborated in a $10 raffle for a date with Varshavski; the campaign raised $91,000 for his foundation.[28]
In July 2019, Varshavski spread awareness for the humanitarian organization Save a Child's Heart by posting a photo with the organization's 5,000th patient while on a trip to Israel.[29] In March 2020, Varshavski donated $50,000 worth of N95 masks in the face of shortages for medical personnel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[30] In late March 2022, Varshavski set up a donation to GlobalGiving for Ukrainian people during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] In June 2022, Varshavski donated $100,111 to Feeding America through a fundraiser organized by YouTuber Ryan Trahan.[31][32]
Controversy
Dr. Mike came under fire in November 2020 for being seen partying maskless during the COVID-19 pandemic.[33] Varshavski addressed the controversy in a response video posted on a secondary channel November 27, 2020.[34]
