According to Dr. Joel Ang, his vocation as a full-time family physician and his avocation as a violinist are irrevocably intertwined.
In family medicine, he explained, “you have to think of a patient as someone who is multidimensional. In music, you do the same thing. You're trying to put things together, trying to work on very specific details of that piece. I learn a lot of medicine through the music and playing the violin because you have to think that way. The thought process is the same.”
Born in the Philippines, Dr. Ang was raised in Raleigh, N.C., where he started playing violin at the age of 12 years in an orchestra at the public school he attended and went on to excel with the instrument. He enrolled in music camps each summer, played in state orchestras in high school, and earned a spot in the Duke University Symphony in Durham, N.C., as a college undergraduate.
He kept playing during medical school—though not as much as he would have liked—and viewed his avocation as “a way to keep stress from building up.”
As he improved, he became intrigued by the technical demands of the violin, noting that “a lot of brain power and technical work is required before you achieve proficiency with the instrument,” said Dr. Ang, who practices family medicine in Washington. “You're using a lot more of your right brain in actually producing that, letting that happen. Allowing emotion to come out of the instrument is an incredible experience.”
These days, Dr. Ang is a violinist with the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Association orchestra and serves as its associate concertmaster (www.wmpamusic.orgwww.world-doctors-orchestra.org
“The music our conductor chose was pretty difficult, a piece by [the late composer] Gustav Mahler,” he said. “The symphony was about 75 minutes long, and we only had 4 days to rehearse before the performance. We played from 9 a.m. until about 6 p.m. each day. It was a pretty intense time, but it was good because I shared it with close to 100 other physicians. It was inspirational to me.”
Dr. Ang practices on a daily basis and is currently taking private lessons from a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra. “I keep myself pretty full with the music,” he said. “The good thing is that I think it really balances out my life, and I meet incredible people. I feel extremely fortunate.”
Steered Clear of Burnout
When Dr. Marilyn Kellam started practicing internal medicine in 1985, she quickly realized that she could easily become a “serious workaholic” if she didn't find an outlet for creativity.
“I could see it coming that I could spend all of my time in the hospital taking care of patients,” said Dr. Kellam, who currently practices at Shore Memorial Hospital in Nassawadox, Va.
Her outlet became singing, an avocation she pursued after attending a production of “The Fantasticks” at the local Trawler Dinner Theater. The cast members “looked like they were having so much fun,” recalled Dr. Kellam. After the show, attendees were informed that the theatre's next production would be Camelot. Dr. Kellam decided that she “would like to get involved with that show in some way,” so she auditioned and earned a role as a tree.
“I also got a part as a singer and dancer as part of the chorus,” she said. “At the first rehearsal, I was totally hooked.”
Mindful that she would benefit from professional voice training she enrolled at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne and took personal lessons from voice teacher Dr. Gerald W. Johnson for several years, developing a proficiency in classical music style. She performed in about 35 productions at the Trawler Dinner Theater before it closed in 2000.
Determined to pursue singing as a creative outlet, she auditioned for a role in a production of Turandot staged by the Norfolk-based Virginia Opera (
“When I'm involved with an opera it only involves 2 months of my time,” she said. “But it's an intense amount of time. It involves rehearsals Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, and commuting 60 miles each way.”
Some patients who are aware of her avocation worry about losing their physician to a career in music, but Dr. Kellam assures them she's not about to leave medicine. “If I had to make my living as a musician, it would lose the joy, because now it's just that: sheer joy,” she said. “I don't have to worry about the business of music.