Pursuing creative hobbies as a physician: Advice from a musician DO

The first few days after I received my new flute that my parents had ordered from the JCPenney catalog, our house was filled with music. I cannot vouch for the quality of the music, but my 11-year-old soul was filled. A lifelong journey was only just beginning. After weeks of waiting for the flute to arrive, I was finally able to test out the embouchure, feel the pads beneath my fingers and hear the wind powered by my diaphragm fill the hollow tube to create a sound.

I would later learn more technicalities of the physics of sound, but for me, life began with music. The voice of my flute has been with me since that spring day in sixth grade. This voice has constantly spoken to me as I aged and has made many changes throughout the years.

Music was my best friend while I was growing up. I loved to produce music with emotion. Although I had previously played guitar, piano, violin and the saxophone, I felt an immediate fit when I played the flute. It remained my instrument of choice as I entered my teenage years. I reached for the soothing sounds to match my inner emotions.

I played when I was joyful or celebrating, as well as when I was sad or mourning. I played to comfort myself in difficult situations, and I played to achieve peace. Playing the flute was a way for me to escape the stressors of life at an early age, and I found solace in making and listening to music as I transitioned from high school to college and began preparing to possibly pursue medicine.

Here is the story of how music traveled with me in life, how it took a backseat to my career in medicine and family responsibilities for a time, and how I rediscovered the joy of playing music after becoming a physician.  

I feel compelled to spread the word to my younger colleagues to not give up on the activities that bring them joy on their professional journey. As a certified physician development coach and podcaster, I encourage physicians to help themselves by pursuing their creative interests as they become physicians. Reminding yourself of your individuality as a physician is important as you try to find ways to not only survive, but also persevere in the field of medicine. I hope my story will encourage you to pursue a passion outside of medicine.

How music traveled with me in life

Between funerals, religious celebrations, parades (marching band), concert halls, camps and master classes, music was the backdrop of life when I was in my undergraduate training. My tuition was paid by a talent grant I obtained for musical aptitude. I eventually decided to double major in biology and music, learning how to balance what I felt were my left- and right-brain strengths to prepare for a possible career in the medical field.

It was a teeter-totter of a college career trying to balance my 18-20 credit semesters. Running from an organic chemistry lab to my concert band rehearsal reminded me of how I could easily adapt to any situation and change my mindset to excel in two extremely different fields. As I neared the end of my time in college, I spent many hours daily preparing for my junior and senior recitals and performing in weekly concerts within the music department. I had finished most of the biology classes I needed to complete to get the B.S. degree in the first three years of my schooling.

Although my chosen fields were very different, I relied on my early teachings of music to achieve goals: Patience. Persistence. Practice. Performance. These were all principles that helped me succeed as a flutist and as a physician. I recall the moment when I was standing in my apartment during my last year of college and felt that I had decided my career path. It was a difficult realization due to the feeling that I had to leave something I loved behind to pursue another passion. I finalized my career aspirations and decided to pursue medicine, which felt like I was closing a chapter on music.

In that moment, I promised myself that I would never let go of my musical pursuits, as I had worked tirelessly to become a master in the craft of flute performance. But it was almost as if I felt that I had betrayed music by putting it to the side and focusing on medicine.

As I packed my bags for medical school, I left room for my favorite music repertoire, flute and piccolo. I had high aspirations to continue playing regularly and to use music as an outlet for creativity during my next chapter. I did not see an end to my commitment to excellence when it came to playing music at a professional level.

It didn’t work out the way I thought it would. Medical school took over. Marriage took over. Kids took over! There were special occasions where I would play my flute, but these events were rare.

I missed music and felt almost as if it was a void within my being when I didn’t perform regularly. I found myself using my pencil to “play” pieces that brought a calming presence to my fervent studying. I would create little songs to help me remember information that needed to be memorized in school. I never forgot about my good old friend, Music.

My kids were toddlers when I started to prepare for my maternal fetal medicine board exams. I was ready to reward myself for passing boards with a new flute—one with the latest and greatest mechanisms and sound—to usher music back into my busy life. I felt that it was time to put an end to the pause of pursuing my passions as I progressed in a medical career. It was the beginning of an awakening.

Picking my new adult flute was an entirely different experience than when I was a young girl—I traveled to the National Flute Association conference to find the instrument of my dreams. This conference is similar to medical conferences. Experts in the field perform, lecture and explore new methods and review old techniques for all who are in the field to experience.

The conference center is always filled with exhibitors displaying flutes, piccolos, bass flutes, alto flutes, musical flute accessories, flute music and anything else you could imagine that could help a flutist. And in the smaller conference rooms, there were concerts, competitions and lectures about any aspect of flute-playing.

Evening concerts were excitedly anticipated at the conference, as many famous flutists debuted new orchestral or symphonic pieces created by legendary musicians and composers, similar to plenary sessions of national medical conferences.

At the conference, I homed in on multiple new flute choices as I trialed them in my hotel room. Different combinations and permutations of head-joints and body styles (silver, aurumite, gold) were spread out on the desk of the room as I played my heart out with sonatas, preludes and etudes I had memorized from years past.

Some of my flute friends and my previous flute professors stopped by for listening sessions to share their opinions about the perfect instrument for me. There were subtle differences in the tone and resistance of each instrument, but there was one flute I kept returning to that resonated with my musicality. I had found “the one!”

Back to my roots

In the next three years following my entrance back into the music scene, I played again. Once again, my home was filled with music and I put my worries and stressors into the air of the world through performance.

I won an amateur flute competition. I made my Italian performance debut at a music festival in Tuscany. I studied at a music conservatory and took lessons weekly. I won a coveted spot in the National Professional Flute Choir. I won the piccolo position in a regional orchestra. I became a medical advisor for the National Flute Association Performance Health Care Committee, providing fellow flutists with guidance on medical resources. All while working full-time as a physician in my specialty field of maternal fetal medicine.

When people asked me what I did as a career, I would often respond “physician-musician.” The sound waves of music had weaved themselves back into my life, making it all the richer. My friend Music was back after a long tacet—and just like old friends who meet again after a hiatus—we didn’t skip a beat.

Choosing a medical career takes an extreme amount of dedication, time and persistence that sometimes leaves us in a state of physical and mental exhaustion with an inability to imagine taking time for ourselves to experience our additional interests that are not medically related. For a time, I put all things that were musically joyful aside to pursue a career in medicine, but I wish I had tried harder to hold onto music during those years.

I often wonder how much better of a player I would be if I had continued to practice during the years I strayed from music to further my medical career. And how many meditative sessions with music could have pleasantly helped me to overcome the stressors associated with a surgical subspecialty training program.

So, keep running, skiing, swimming, playing the guitar, knitting, golfing and meditating.  You may only have 10 extra minutes in a day while you are in training to practice your hobby, but it may be the key to revitalizing your life.

Related reading:

Making time for the little joys of life amid the bustle of medicine

My quest for immortality: I wanted to always be around so I could take care of my brother