Submission by: Jorvic Ramos, OMS-III
“It’s fascinating and powerful to think that music, something that has been floating around in our environment forever – that this natural, omnipresent human activity has demonstrable benefit as treatment.”
Sarah Hoover., D.M.A., co-director of the Center for Music and Medicine
There is one universal language that unites us all – music.
Music is all around us. It’s not just the repetitive pop songs on the radio or your fine-tuned Spotify playlists that fit your every mood. Open your ears to the world around you – and you soon realize that music is everywhere.
The singing of the birds in the morning; the mechanical synchrony of your car starting up in the morning; the symphony of alarms, call lights, bed alarms, telephones, yelling of agitated patients during rounds; the calmness, wind, and quiet whirring of your bike’s pedals and chain during an afternoon ride; or the subtle humming of the fan as you study in the evening.
For me, making music is a way of creative expressiveness – something to keep my mind off medicine just for a little bit. However, you can’t deny the healing powers of music. Researchers have studied music interventions and the application of clinical music strategies in medicine. Music can balance the autonomic system by toning down sympathetic activity, allowing patients to relax; it can influence how the mind, body, and spirit interact with one other. Check out the videos below to see some examples how music can bring joy and better health to people.
For more on my musical endeavors, follow me on Instagram: @jorvicjustinmusic
Daily Dose of Humanities 