Using music during surgery

I was just interviewed recently for a podcast that focused on MusicMedicine and the creation of Surgical Serenity Solutions. Talking about this MusicMedicine innovation and how it can help so many people in surgery, especially, is such a huge thrill for me. For many years I was a college music professor and a private piano teacher. I performed in chamber music groups and did some solo work but I was not a speaker and never even thought about being a speaker.

However, my father was a United Methodist minister and I definitely heard him preach multiple times per week. I loved hearing his calm, confident, persuasive voice, but never dreamed that I might be able to do the same thing, delivering talks on Music Medicine and the healing power of music.

My entry into speaking about music healing

All of this changed when I was hired by the University of Louisville School of Medicine to do research into Music Medicine and the healing power of music. Within months I began getting invitations to speak to local medical and lay organizations and almost from the beginning, I LOVED it! (Yes, at first I was nervous because I thought I had to memorize a speech, but later I found out that I could speak from an outline and that literally changed everything!) I guess I’m a storyteller and when I think back to my earliest memories and experiences with music–from my father singing to me as a baby, being in the church nursery and singing songs, to hearing a piano for the first time  and finally beginning lessons at age 8–the stories begin to flow!

Joining the National Speakers Association and learning to craft a key-note, organize and incorporate stories properly made a huge diffeerence. I highly recommend this organization if you have completed Toastmasters!

Speaking on Podcasts

NOW, in the era of podcasts I have been getting invitations from all kinds of interesting people to talk about how music helps in surgery and in other areas of the hospital. When I am interviewed by a podcaster I realize that I really don’t even need any notes because all of this information is stored in my brain. There is almost nothing I’d rather do than talk about the healing power of music and I’ve now done it around the world, including western Europe, South Korea, Hawaii, and Canada!

Everywhere I go people are eager to ask great questions and relate their own stories! I have heard fascinating audience stories from Maui, about how an elderly grandma with Alzheimers would only get up if her son would say “Mama, let’s do some Hula!” to people in Boston who could go to sleep when listening to specific Early American lullabies that they were sure they had listened to before they were born!

How it works

Most of the podcasters either send me a list of questions that they want me to answer or  they ask me to send them a list of questions that I think would be interesting to their audience. I love their questions and eagerly answer them and then expand on them. All but one of these podcasts has been video and audio but one of them was audio only. I prefer having video too because I believe I get lots of information from people when I’m watching them talk, like body language and facial expressions. Maybe that’s because I am also now a psychotherapist and I do this every day.

How to book Dr. Alice for a podcast

Photo by Vladislav Anchuk on Unsplash

If you’re interested in hearing my next podcast interview, it will be at the end of August and should be VERY interesting and somewhat different from the others I’ve done so far. It will be with Julie Ryan who is a well-known holistic healer, intuitive physician and self-proclaimed smorgasboard psychic. She also holds couple of US patents on surgical devices like I do. I’m really looking forward to this one! To learn more about her visit her website at www.askjulieryan.com. I know you’ll enjoy it!

To view all of my recent podcasts, go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/podcasts 

If you don’t already know about my preloaded headphones and preloaded MP3 for surgery, go to www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/headphones or www.surgicalserenitysolutions.com/MP3players.

The music has been specially curated by a clinical musicologist to have the maximum beneficial effects on the patients vital signs (heart-rate and breathing rate.) When that happens, the patients anxiety level and perception of pain decrease. In other words patients awaken feeling calmer, and oriented to their surroundings and often require less medication.

We also have the same 5 playlists of music that you can stream from our app. To hear samples, go to www,surgicalserenitysolutions.com/calm

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and experiences!