In the Flow

Muse

Inspiration from outside medicine

A Puerto Rican woman with curly hair, glasses and a pink blouse, sits in front of a piano as she looks to the side while she plays a blue guitar.
Photo: Michael Marquand

“Music gives me purpose. It’s something that is really mine. When everything else goes terribly, getting to my ‘Music Rheum’ is cathartic. It clears my mind, not because it’s beautiful and enjoyable but because it’s difficult: If I can do this, I can do the rest.

Music requires focus. There’s a point where I feel that my brain is on fire, [where] I’m going to make this transition: ‘Whoa, I did it without thinking.’ Suddenly, you see how everything flows. That’s what you want when you do a differential diagnosis or generate a hypothesis — something that flows naturally and makes harmony.

The joy I get from music transpires to other aspects of my life. As doctors, we are also performing and must make sure that the person coming to us with concerns also trusts us. When I see patients, I still feel nervous because I don’t want to miss something important. I sometimes use a music reference as icebreaker to calm the patient — and myself.”

Summer 2023 Front to Back

  • From the Dean

    Message from the Dean

    As Weill Cornell Medicine marks the 125th year since its founding, it is striking to reflect upon how our values have endured.
  • Features

    Window Into the Future

    An ambitious research program could hold clues to improving the health of women and their children across their lifespans.
  • Features

    Caught on Camera

    Recordings made in Dr. Simon Scheuring’s lab reveal how elusive molecules embedded in cell membranes get their jobs done — for good and ill.
  • Features

    Risks and Rewards

    Alumnus Dr. Anthony Fauci (M.D. ’66) joins Dr. Jay Varma in a candid conversation about the future of public health and more.
  • Notable

    Two Landmark Anniversaries

    Weill Cornell Medicine is celebrating more than a century of excellence in medical education, scientific discovery and patient care, commemorating 125 years since its founding.
  • Notable

    Honoring Diversity

    In a celebration of Weill Cornell Medicine’s commitment to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion in academic medicine, the institution honored nearly a dozen faculty, students and staff.
  • Notable

    Overheard

    Weill Cornell Medicine faculty members are leading the conversation about important health issues across the country and around the world.
  • Notable

    News Briefs

    Notable faculty appointments, honors, awards and more — from around campus and beyond.
  • Notable

    Dateline

    The Salzburg-Cornell Seminars, now part of the Open Medical Institute (OMI), celebrates 30 years of knowledge-sharing, having served more than 26,000 fellows from 130 countries.
  • Grand Rounds

    There Is Hope

    How immunotherapy offered a new lease on life
  • Grand Rounds

    Medical School, Minus the Debt

    Weill Cornell Medicine’s debt-reduction program.
  • Grand Rounds

    News Briefs

    The latest on teaching, learning and patient-centered care.
  • Discovery

    Filling a Critical Gap in the Gut

    An important discovery positions fungi as a missing part of research on how the gut biome influences health.
  • Discovery

    New Clues to Coma Recovery

    Delays in regaining consciousness may serve a purpose: protecting the brain from oxygen deprivation.
  • Discovery

    Findings

    The latest advances in faculty research, published in the world’s leading journals.
  • Alumni

    Profiles

    Forging critical connections to move research from the bench to the bedside, our alumni are making an impact.
  • Alumni

    Notes

    What’s new with you? Keep your classmates up to date on all your latest achievements with an Alumni Note.
  • Alumni

    In Memoriam

    Marking the passing of our faculty and alumni.
  • Alumni

    Moments

    Marking celebratory events in the lives of our students, including Match Day and Graduation.
  • Second Opinion

    Nurturing Well-Being

    How can the health-care workforce recover from pandemic burnout?
  • Exchange

    High-Risk, High-Reward

    Two enterprising scientists discuss how the ecosystem for innovation at Weill Cornell Medicine provides the support entrepreneurial faculty and students need to turn their promising research into commercially viable drugs and other treatments.
  • Muse

    In the Flow

    Dr. Navarro Millán is a rheumatologist, clinical investigator and multi-instrumentalist.
  • Spotlight

    Making Health Care Affordable and Equitable

    Dr. Cheryl Pegus (M.D. ’88) is a cardiologist working in health-care businesses on new products to meet consumer needs, enhance health equity and improve health outcomes.