Medicine: The Musical headed to an off-Broadway theater

If you’ve ever jammed out to the soundtrack of “Hamilton” or “Wicked” and wondered what a musical about your life might sound like, “Medicine: The Musical” may have the answer.

Written and composed by Michael Ehrenreich, MD, a practicing dermatologist in South Orange, New Jersey, the musical chronicles the highs, lows and rigors of the first year of medical school.

Dr. Ehrenreich, cast and crew are currently preparing to perform the musical off-Broadway in New York City for two weeks in October at a to-be-determined venue.

Dr. Ehrenreich hopes the musical will present medical school in a novel and accessible way to the general public, he told The DO in an email.

‘Humanizing medicine goes both ways’

“It’s not quite realistic—it is a musical after all—but I want people to get a sense of the pressure involved and how hard people work, and get the public to view doctors as people too,” he wrote. “Humanizing medicine goes both ways.”

Years after he initially had the idea for the musical while a first-year, Dr. Ehrenreich wrote it over about three months in 2016. He says most viewers’ favorite song is “So You Want To Know How I Died.”

“It’s the most comic element in the musical,” he says.

The clips above and below are from a staged reading of the musical. More clips from the staged reading, including “OSCE” and “See One Teach One Do One,” are available on YouTube. More information about the musical is available here.