Palaniappan Manickam (Dr. Pal)
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| Born |
Madurai, India
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| Education |
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| Occupation | Gastroenterologist | |||||||||
| Known for | Media personality. ("MedCom") | |||||||||
| Medical career | ||||||||||
| Profession | Medical doctor, health advocate | |||||||||
| Field | Medicine | |||||||||
YouTube information
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| Subscribers | 2.64 million[1] | |||||||||
| Total views | 780.7 million[1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: April 2, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Website | drpalmanickam | |||||||||
Palaniappan Manickam, better known as Dr. Pal, is a board-certified gastroenterologist,[2] who is originally from India, and currently practices in California. He specializes in gut health, time-restricted eating, and a mostly plant-based diet. He is also a celebrity doctor who uses in-person and virtual stand-up comedy ("MedCom") to educate the general public on chronic illness intervention.
Manickam was born and raised in Madurai, India.[3][4][5] He received his MBBS from PSG Institute of Medical Sciences & Research in Coimbatore, India, his MPH from University of Massachusetts Boston, and his residency in Internal Medicine from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Michigan.[6] He did his gastroenterology fellowship at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.[2]
Manickam is a gastroenterologist at a hospital in Sacramento, California.[3][5] He also uses a form of stand-up comedy he dubs "MedCom,"[7] on social media and in person in order to educate the general public on gut health and chronic illness intervention.[5][4][8][9]
Manickam made his first video in March 2020[10] during the COVID-19 pandemic. He notes that it "all started when an NGO got in touch with me saying they wanted a video for Covid awareness. I agreed and prepared a 10-minute script in four hours. They saw the video and wrote back to me saying this was very comical and that they wanted a professional video. I was gutted because I had spent a lot of time writing the jokes. They suggested I upload it on YouTube."[9] Manickam followed through and created a YouTube channel, uploading the video. He then shared the video with a WhatsApp group that he belonged to, and the video went viral.[10] He subsequently developed his YouTube channel, and created channels on other social media outlets such as Instagram.[7]
While the initial content of his videos focused on COVID-19, it gradually shifted to gut-health, time-restricted eating, mostly plant-based diets, and weight loss.[9] Manickam also began to study the genre of stand-up comedy, and invented the character "Saravana Kumar" as a means of connecting with his audience.[7] He eventually began to perform his "medcom" routines in live stand - up performances in the United States, India,[5][9] and Malaysia.[11]
Manickam says that his comedic videos and live performances are his form of giving back,[10] as all funds collected from his media outlets go towards Aishwaryam Trust, Madurai (a foundation which offers Palliative care).[8]
In 2024, Rediff.com listed Manickam as one of “India’s Top Social Media Influencers.”[12]
Manickam and his wife Priya (a data scientist in a software company)[10] live with their two children (Arjun and Atharva) in Sacramento, California.[13]
