It turns out there are some important lessons that doctors could learn from musicians.
Across the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of musicians ; some are not so good but many are good and some are excellent.
There also are a very few master musicians, the type that truly understand their art and to whom others turn for advice. Some of these masters are teachers and mentors even though they may not be exceptional performers. Other master musicians don’t or can’t teach, but they are exceptional performers. Of course, these masters each have their own area of expertise ; some are conductors, others play a wind instrument or a string instrument.
Similarly, there are lots of doctors, and most are good.
A few are excellent, but a very few are the master doctors. Some of these masters are exceptional at their craft ; surgeons or diagnosticians ; but may not be good teachers. Others are exceptional mentors and teachers.
Two of the few master doctors are Faith Fitzgerald from Sacramento and Frank Davidoff, who works in Connecticut.
Both have trained perhaps thousands of junior doctors around the nation by listening to them, modeling behaviors for them and asking questions of them. Davidoff recently wrote in the Annals of Internal Medicine about the similarities between doctors and musicians, suggesting that perhaps medical schools and hospitals should pay closer attention to how musicians are trained.
He points out that great teachers in music are coaches, not lecturers.
Coaches observe, listen both for what is played and for what is not played, and provide specific individual feedback.
Stars are inspirational, but in medicine, like music, a performance often depends on the rank and file, not the superstars.
Musicians are trained to play in orchestras and bands where the music depends upon listening to others so as to coordinate function and timing. Doctors have traditionally been trained as solo performers and are not effective team players. When we get together, each medical specialty or individual often tries to play louder than others without listening or working as a team.
Medical schools have invested time looking for new ways to teach medical content, say biochemistry and anatomy.
But the practice of medicine takes practice, and practice takes time.
Medicine also requires something more than simple intelligence.
A musician can be technically excellent but the music may sound flat and mechanical. We need to look for new ways to ensure that tomorrow’s doctors are neither clinically nor technically tone deaf. Musicians practice by taking small pieces of the piece and playing small bits, going back and listening, and retrying each bit until it is satisfactory.
Once a medical student can play the entire piece crudely, too little attention is given to practice ; breaking the skills down into their component pieces and practicing based on feedback.
Perhaps medical schools need to look more carefully at what we can learn from musicians.
Today and tomorrow will require doctors who are more than technically competent. They need to be able to learn and feel the art.
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