A New Spin on Medical “Records”: Music in the OR

By Kristen Watson

Many surgeons find they are more relaxed and better able to concentrate on their work when their favorite music plays in the background of an OR. Whether classical or classic rock, music of all types accompany surgeons in P&S operating suites and ORs around the country where P&S alumni practice. “Music is an integral part of everything I do,” explains Eric L. Lazar ’89, postdoc residency fellow in surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian. “Listening to the radio in the car, in the office while working or reading, or in the kitchen while cooking, I seem to think better with it on, so why not? My only rule is no radio with news on it. I was scrubbed during the Challenger crash and all I could think about was getting out of the OR to see the video clips. News can be disturbing and, therefore, distracting. “I enjoy a variety of music in the OR,” says Dr. Lazar, “including classical, opera, jazz, rock, and movie tunes. The selection depends upon my mood and is no different if I weren’t operating. Lively, snappy pieces are great for closing, but I find very loud, tinny, or metallic music is distracting, and Muzak is out.” Deep in the heart of Texas, George Letsou ’83, associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, prefers listening to his local oldies station in the OR “played at the level of elevator music.” This way, he says, “the tunes are familiar, yet not intrusive.” Everyone’s musical taste is different, so musically accompanied surgery tends to be most enjoyable to surgeons when they select the tunes themselves. According to a 1994 SUNY Buffalo study that suggested surgeons perform better while listening to music they choose, personally selected instrumental music produced lower blood pressure and pulse rates in study participants while they engaged in a series of standard laboratory psychological stress tests. For some surgeons, silence is golden. “I don’t operate to music any more for technical reasons,” says Henry Spotnitz ’66, the George H. Humphreys II Professor in Surgery at P&S. “It’s too difficult to arrange. Also, most of my work is now done under local anesthesia, and I am concerned this would appear unprofessional. However, when I did open heart surgery I found classical music or Muzak soothing, relaxing, and fatigue-alleviating.” Donald O. Quest ’70, clinical professor of neurological surgery at P&S, says he has listened to music in the operating room on many occasions but does not make it a regular practice. “Sometimes I’ll listen to classical music and sometimes what I call American popular music of the 1930s and 40s--George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, big band or singers such as Sinatra, Bennett, Fitzgerald, Clooney, Stafford, or more current performers such as Feinstein, Connick, and McGovern,” says Dr. Quest. “In fact, just for fun and for their edification, I used to quiz medical students and residents about the songs and performers. Most didn’t do too well, but a few were experts.” Gershwin wasn’t thinking of Dr. Quest when he wrote, “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” “I don’t listen as much since someone stole my radio,” Dr. Quest adds, “but occasionally a resident will bring in a CD that suits my taste and it will be played. However, I don’t concentrate on the music. It’s really just background.” Roger D. Cohen ’63, a pediatric surgeon at the Medical College of Wisconsin, says he listens to music in the operating room “on occasion,” but usually the surgical nurses turn it on. “The music depends on the mood,” Dr. Cohen says. “I prefer jazz, but I also like classical (but that requires concentration) and Sinatra, and my anesthesiologist prefers country and western. The approach to music is highly individual. It also depends on the type of surgery too. I tend to do a lot of laparoscopic Female Surgeons: Not an Oxymoron Women have been admitted to P&S since 1917, and growing numbers of female alumni pursue careers in neurosurgery, general surgery, surgical subspecialties, and medical specialties with surgical components. Those female surgeons, we suspect, also listen to music in their ORs. So you may be tempted to ask why we excluded female surgeons in this survey of P&S and alumni surgeons. We tried to include them by contacting several female alumni listed in the alumni directory within surgical specialties; none responded. It would be music to our ears to hear from female surgeons via the letters column. Send e-mail to edb3@columbia.edu or write to: P&S Journal P&S Box 62 630 W. 168th St. New York, NY 10032 The Editor surgery--it’s equipment specific in a dark OR and requires concentration.” Dr. Cohen adds: “The music should serve as background. I find music irritating when things are not going well. I also only listen to public radio stations because I hate advertising.” Researchers also enjoy listening to music while they work. Dr. R. N. Pierson Jr., a research internist at P&S, listens to Mozart “under almost all circumstances, with intermittences of Vivaldi, Purcell, Bach, and a strong preference for non-vocal,” but jokes that he has never taken his blood pressure or heart rate to determine just how much he enjoys his favorite selections. Popular television dramas and movies give their audiences a peek into ORs where surgeons have musical accompaniment. These scenes are usually meant to display a certain confidence and ease the surgeons have with their work. In the movie “City of Angels,” as cardiac surgeon Dr. Maggie Rice (played by Meg Ryan) prepares to close her patient, she points to a stereo inside the surgical suite and says, “Jimi.” Someone pushes a button on the stereo and Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House” fills the air. This psychedelic tune may not be the average surgeon’s choice, but it’s clear that Dr. Rice has made this selection because it puts her at ease; the scene also shows the surgeon in control. “This could be heresy in the surgeons lounge,” Dr. Lazar says, “but I do not think surgeons are the sole determinant of whether music should be played. If my scrub nurse can’t hear or function, or the anesthesia resident can’t concentrate, then the music should be turned off. It’s more important that the whole team functions well in the established environment.”

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