The perfect tune can comfort patients, reduce professionals’ stress
Making music might not be something you would expect from a person who has chosen to practice medicine. Most people are either left-brained or right, preferring the sciences or the arts. However, many people in the medical field use music as a creative outlet to relieve the stress of an intense and rigorous career. Musically inclined medical professionals also use the art for healing patients, as soothing sounds can lift the spirits of those in hospitals and clinics.
A number of studies tout the benefits of music on mental and physical health. Psychologist Daniel Levitin, Ph.D., who studies the neuroscience of music at McGill University in Montreal, found that music improves the body’s immune system function and reduces stress. A 2013 Trends in Cognitive Sciences study states that listening to music was found to be more effective than prescription drugs in reducing anxiety before surgery.
Michael Savilla, D.O., a 2018 West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) graduate, took a piano class in college and bought his first keyboard when he began medical school. He played the piano regularly during his first year of school as a way to relieve stress. While completing rotations in hospitals during his third and fourth years of medical school, he played piano during his breaks. The songs eventually caught the ears of nearby patients.
“I wasn’t sure if the piano was just for presentation or if people were allowed to play it,” the anesthesiology resident said. “I had a break and I saw there were a lot of patients coming through, so I sat down and started to play.”
Savilla said he was happy to play songs that ran the gamut of genres, from a pop song by Beyonce to a modern classical composer named Ludovico Einaudi. His favorite tune to play for patients was the Christmas classic “Carol of the Bells.” No matter the song, Savilla said, he takes pride in being able to offer an outlet that makes others feel better.
“It’s basic human nature. Being a health care provider and caring for people is not mutually exclusive. We can all find ways to show love and care,” he said. “Pain comes in different forms, and music can control how patients respond to that. For the most part, people respond positively to music.”
Levitin’s studies address how music influences health. He found that listening to and playing music increase the body’s production of the antibody immunoglobulin A and natural killer cells, or the cells that attack invading viruses and boost immune effectiveness. The studies found that music also reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Stress reduction is the main reason students Nick Bennett and Amanda Buzzetta sing and play instruments. Bennett is from Hinton, W.Va., and plays guitar while, Buzzetta is from Orlando, Fla., and plays trombone. The two found a common interest in music while searching for other musicians during their first year in medical school. Their first performance for the Lewisburg community was at an open mic night and since then they have performed duets at various WVSOM events.
“I thought about our combination of instruments and vocals and tried to imagine what it would sound like,” Buzzetta said. “As soon as we rehearsed together, we just played off each other and tried to incorporate each other’s sounds.”
Bennett is a self-taught guitar player who picked up the instrument as a bored 13-year-old. In college, he started learning classical guitar along with singing and songwriting. He dabbled in learning to play other instruments, such as the banjo, mandolin, bass, drums, Dobro and ukulele. He said he has found that music helps exercise his whole brain.
“People who enjoy medicine are people who like academic challenges but who also enjoy people and interacting. Playing music is a similar experience for the brain,” he said.
Buzzetta has been juggling two passions since high school. That’s when she thought she wanted to pursue music education as a career but discovered her additional interest in anatomy and physiology.
“I decided to look into medicine but wasn’t ready to let go of music, so in college I pursued a double major in music and biomedical sciences,” she said. “I tried to continue both as long as I could, but after college I pursued music as a career, teaching in public school and being a freelance musician.”
While trombone is her primary instrument, she has also played euphonium. As much as she loved music, Buzzetta took the path that is leading her to become a doctor. She said she has recognized many parallels between medicine and music ever since beginning medical school.
“I find myself writing musical notations for heart sounds, and I never thought I’d be exercising that knowledge,” she said.
Alex Bingcang, D.O., a 2006 WVSOM graduate and a family medicine physician in Cincinnati, played cello throughout his time in medical school. He returned to Lewisburg for the 2019 Alumni Weekend to play with his musical group B-Bams at the Ivy Terrace, a free outdoor concert series that takes place each summer at Carnegie Hall.
Bingcang has played at awareness events such as the Sept. 11 15-year commemoration and a fundraiser after the 2016 West Virginia floods.
“It’s nice to be able to share with the community and connect with people not through the healing arts but through music, which has its own healing properties,” he said. “In Cincinnati, my wife Sarah and I play music with a retired physician and we play trios in the area. We’ve played at hospitals and fundraisers for things like melanoma awareness.”
One of the senses that many patients continue to possess when they are ill or dying is their sense of hearing, Bingcang said.
“There’s an interesting sense of hearing that continues when a person might not be able to speak but responds physiologically to sounds,” he said. “There are studies that show the benefits of people hearing music. Music improves people’s moods. You see this in the nursing home or in those with dementia. When I play for people who have dementia, they seem to liven up. It’s uplifting to hear music.”
Bennett said one thing good doctors and good musicians have in common is that they’re good collaborators.
“Playing instruments with other people means you have to listen to them and incorporate their ideas, and that’s true of medicine as well. It takes everyone’s strengths brought together to find the best path to care for patients,” he said.