SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) –– Upstate Medical University students spend most of their time in class and in the lab. But twice a month, they trade their textbooks for music — and head to the Cancer Center.
The program is called “Music as Healing.” Medical students who play instruments or sing perform in the Cancer Center lobby, giving patients, families and staff a few moments of comfort during what can be the hardest days of their lives.
Alessandra Barlas, an Upstate Medical student and one of the program’s performers, said the opportunity is unlike anything else available to students with a passion for the arts.
“It gives medical students, who are musically inclined, the opportunity to share and use their talents to make the days of both patients at the Cancer Center and the staff of physicians, administrators and nurses — make their days a little bit better and a little happier,” Barlas said.
Barlas said the impact often reveals itself in the quiet moments after a performance ends.
“Hearing their words of gratitude after we perform — it’s really enlightening,” she said. “And even if it makes their day just slightly better than it was before they heard us play, then we think that’s absolutely worth it.”
Andrew Kim has been playing at the Cancer center for over a year. He said medical school doesn’t leave much room for music — but he makes it work anyway. For Kim, the Cancer center is not just a performance space. It is a place where music does something words cannot.
“In the Cancer Center, there are so many different emotions going on, different stages that people are going through,” Kim said. “Sometimes words aren’t enough. Music is able to step up and give us that outlet — connect us with those people. It’s something that you just hear and you listen and you feel, and oftentimes that paints a bigger picture than what words can do.”
Kim said the setting gives the music a weight that is hard to find anywhere else.
“Coming to the Cancer Center is not something everyone gets to do — especially in the context of performing and being able to bring what you love,” he said. “Being able to see some of the people here, patients and staff — they make it all the much more worthwhile.”
First-year student Hannah Kim said performing here is a reminder of who they are training to serve.
“I think we forget that the hospital is the last place that they want to be,” she said. “So anything that we can do to make that a little bit easier for them — I think that’s what makes it meaningful for us.”
Barlas said that meaning is what keeps students showing up, even with packed academic schedules bearing down on them.
“The rumors are true when they say that medical students have very little free time,” Barlas said. “But this is what we like to do in our free time — share our gifts and hone our talents in a beautiful way, because it brings joy to other people.”
This Cancer Center has become an unlikely rehearsal space — and for the patients inside, something to look forward to. The students say it is helping them just as much as the people they perform for.
“Music is healing has been a great outlet for us as medical students to still pursue our musical talents and our hobbies,” Barlas said. “It’s really great that we’re using our talents to still make an impact and help heal people’s souls emotionally.
For now, the students are setting their sights on Apr. 24, when they will host a full concert for kids with cancer, where Barlas says she hopes the music will speak louder than ever.