“Dancing Doc” Tony Adkins has been livening up hospital rooms and helping distract pediatric patients from their pain for about a year, and now the California physician's assistant has become an internet sensation after footage of him went viral in the last few weeks.
The idea of using dancing to spread cheer at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County came about when one of Adkin’s post-op patients was feeling down, Inside Edition reported.
Since then, busting out a move has become an essential part of his practice.
“Nurses have told me that when patients get admitted to the unit, they will ask for me specifically,” he said. “There’s nothing better than seeing a smile on my patient’s faces or to hear them laugh.”
Since footage of him dancing in the ward was posted to Facebook, Adkins said he is often recognized in public.
Recently the PA was visiting Disneyland when a group of strangers stopped him and exclaimed: “Hey, you’re that doctor who dances,” according to The Orange County Register.
Parents and children are now putting in special requests for a dance performance from Atkins.
“They ask us for the Dancing Doc,” said Trisha Stockton, a neuroscience unit nurse. “Tony lightens up every room he walks into. A kid that hasn’t smiled in days, smiles.”
Dr. Michael Muhonen, director of neurosurgery at CHOC, explained that Adkins helps distract the children from the disease and pain through his dancing.
“It’s like giving that patient a shot of morphine to relieve pain,” he said.
Adkins explained that pain management was at the core of his dance moves.
“Studies show that when people laugh, smile and become more interactive, the effect on the brain is more powerful than some pain medications,” he said, according to Metro. “It has a clinical value as it allows me to assess a patient’s physical abilities, mobility and recovery process.”
If dancing could help instill “a love of music and dance in my patients, in addition to improving their outcomes and outlooks, that’s a wonderful thing,” he added.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.