I came across a thought provoking perspective in Annals of Internal Medicine on the parallels between musicians and doctors. One need be neither an audiophile nor a musician to appreciate the similarities.
Like music, medicine is a learned discipline, and clinical practice is very much a form of performance. Hence, you have blend of technical skill and art.
The authors suggest that 10 features of the professionalization of musicians may offer us lessons on how medicine might be learned, taught, and performed more effectively.
These 10 features are:Performance
Coaching
Stardom
Talent
Time
Art
Practice
Teamwork
Repertoire
Specialization
All are important. Two that struck a cord with me, pardon the pun, were time and practice. Long hours and repetition (repeatedly performing histories, examinations and technical procedures) are essential for masterful and artistic clinical performances.
As I tell the students: there are no short cuts.
To quote the article’s author: “… health care might want to keep firmly in mind what all musicians and other performing artists take for granted: You're only as good as your last performance.”
