BLOG: Music is medicine for the soul, part 2
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After finishing rounding at Sparrow Hospital this afternoon, our junior endocrine fellow Palak Kachhadia, MD, and I approached the lobby and saw Kairo Noronha performing on the grand piano by the hospital’s cafeteria.
I had not seen Kairo for few months, as he was busy applying to medical schools. I introduced him to the fellow, who had heard Kairo’s story — I have been sharing his uplifting story with colleagues in our division.
A year ago, I wrote part one of “Music is medicine for the soul” about Kairo’s dream to learn medicine and become a doctor and my dream to learn to play piano. As I wrote in that post, I was mesmerized when I heard someone playing the grand piano in Sparrow Hospital’s lobby. I was eating lunch at the nearby cafeteria, and when I heard the piano performance, I took my tray and sat at a table near the piano.
After the performer finished the song he was playing, I clapped and introduced myself. His name was Kairo, a gifted recent college graduate who was volunteering at Sparrow Hospital. He told me about his dream, and I told him about mine. We agreed that he would teach me piano and I would teach him medicine. I told him I dreamed of play Yanni’s songs myself, especially “One Man’s Dream,” “Felitsa” and “Until the Last Minute.
As I wrote in the earler post, when I asked him about his name and whether it came from Cairo, the capital of Egypt, he said it did. He said his father had a great passion for the city. We then joked about swapping the C for a K.
Last year, Kairo finished his undergraduate degree in kinesiology at Michigan State University, and he has since been working in a rehabilitation center as well as volunteering at Sparrow Hospital. After our meeting at the grand piano, I kind of “adopted” Kairo and became a mentor for him. I saw in him a promising future doctor, who has this gift of music.
Kairo began learning music at age 5 years by his mother, a pianist herself. I think an individual with musical passion will make a great doctor. I believe such an individual promises to have great empathy, an essential attribute that all doctors should be well equipped with. I am a strong believer that “music is medicine for the soul.”
I added Kairo to my research team, and he participated in an ongoing study we were conducting at our endocrine clinic. He then took the MCAT and scored quite well. He is now interviewing at medical schools, and I trust he will be accepted into a good one. He asked for a letter of recommendation, and I hope the letter will resonate with prospective medical schools he is applying to.
The personal statement that Kairo wrote in his medical school application was so powerful. He talked about some difficult social experiences in his childhood that shaped him into a forward-looking, self-built and hard-working young man, with a big dream — to be a doctor. He spoke so highly about his parents and their pivotal roles in his upbringing. I trust that this statement, plus Kairo’s qualifications, aspirations, experiences and utmost professionalism will appeal to medical schools as an ideal medical student candidate
In return, Kairo kept his promise to me — teaching me music. He gave me a few piano lessons on his piano. I had never played before, and he gave me important musical tips. I did not have any knowledge of reading sheet music or terminology. Music is a sophisticated theoretical science. It was like rocket science to me but even more difficult to apply. Too many things to coordinate: the eyes on the notes and staffs, fingers on the keys, and memorizing the alphabets CDEFGAB and vice versa, which is counterintuitive to the alphabet that starts with A. The most difficult task is to master the letters on the lines and staff: A famous mnemonic is Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge, for the letters on the lines in the treble clef, the right hand’s fingers, starting with the middle C moving toward the right up the higher pitch keys!
I know, a lot of weird terminology and concepts — and there are much more to learn.
I became more determined to learn piano, so I enrolled in MSU’s Community Music College. I have learned the music sheet, and I can now play simple songs and pieces, like Jingle Bells, Ode to Joy, Friends, etc, songs that kids and beginners learn to play.
But my dream, as shared with Kairo, was to play Yanni’s songs, especially “One Man’s Dream.”
As I wrote in the earlier post, I had thought that the piece Kairo was playing was a Yanni song. Kairo told me after our introduction that it was a song by Yiruma. But then he agreed that Yiruma’s piece had a part similar to a part in “One Man’s Dream.”
When we met again today, Kairo said that he will soon have more time to teach me more piano, as he will finish interviewing at medical schools. He told me that it is now time that I learn to play “One Man’s Dream.” I said, “No, that is difficult.” But he then he taught me to play left hand repeated introductory notes, while he played the higher notes with his right hand. We collectively played the first part of “One Man’s Dream,” and it was so fulfilling!
Finally, I asked him to listen to the piece that I have focused on learning, the “Lullaby” song. I pulled out the sheet music from my pocket and I played it, and I was proud of myself. Lullaby is so special to me, as it reminds me of my daughter Jinan, who passed away early in life due to a rare congenital brain disorder, as I detailed in an earlier post.
The fellow was surprised to see her attending play the piano, and she took the photo in the figure.
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