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During longer operations,
however, Dr. Phillips will turn
the dial from classical 105.1 FM
to 104.3, "oldies but goodies," to
lighten up the fare.
But eventually, says Dr.
Phillips, even the Supremes be-
come supreme elevator music to
attentive doctors. "In general,
we are so concentrated on the
patient that we tune everything
out," he says. "But it helps when
we're in there for hours and
during crucial moments. The
music gives us a piece of reality;
it's a connection to the outside
world."
Factoring into the music
equation are the patients. Last
year at Harper Hospital in De-
troit, doctors performed a pa-
tient case study to determine
what role music plays in the pre-
anesthetic moments before
surgery.
Patients were randomly di-
vided by procedure.
Some had music
of their choice
playing in the
room; others
didn't have any
music playing
at all. After
their proce-
dure, they were
asked what im-
pressions they had
of their overall ex-
perience. The study
concluded that pa-
tients who listened to
music had much more positive
impressions. The most popular

music of choice was easy listen-
ing.
"The patients thought the
music was very helpful," says
Mark Friedland, a vascular sur-
geon at Harper. "It relaxed
them."
Even patients who aren't
awake for their operations are
often in tune with the chosen se-
lections. "Patients don't really
say too much," says Dr. Alt-
shuler. "But before they're
asleep, they do ask what's play-
ing."
Dr. Phillips adds that "pa-
tients who hear selections of
classical music when they get
into surgery love it."
In fact, more disagreements

occur between the doctors them-
selves.

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Dr. Emanuel Reinitz, for ex-
ample, spends most of his time
performing kidney transplants
in Harper Hospital's operating
rooms, where music is always
playing through the sound sys-
tem.
Unfortunately for Dr. Reinitz,
it's usually not the kind of mu-
sic he likes to listen to.
"I absolutely hate that soft
music that plays in the back-
ground," he says. "It really
grates on me. Whenever I walk
into an operating room and it's
on, I always reach for the dial."

Dr. Reinitz acknowledges that
everybody is entitled to his or
her musical opinion; he just
doesn't see the need to enjoy
other people's preferences.
"Some of my colleagues even lis-
ten to that country-western
stuff," he says. "I don't like the
messages in those songs, and I
just can't focus when I hear
them. They just don't do any-
thing for me."
Instead, Dr. Reinitz prefers
listening to the sophisticated
sounds ofjazz and classical mu-
sic. He'll usually bring in his fa-
vorite CDs like Dave Brubeck,
Glen Miller and Peter Ilich
Tchaikovsky.
"Jazz and classical music are
much more stylized and or-
dered," he says. "They're rhyth-
mic and not overbearing."
Dr. Friedland, a Harper Hos-
pital resident, is also a fan of the
classics — classic rock, that is.
"I personally like the Rolling
Stones and U2,"
he says. "It
keeps me
mentally
sharp for long
periods of
time. And if my
mind is active,
the more alert
and attentive I

get."
But for most op-
erations, Dr. Fried-
land says, the CD of
choice goes to the first
person to bring it in. As
a result, Dr. Friedland hears
everything from Melissa
Etheridge to Johann Sebastian
Bach. "I never listened to clas-
sical music before I became a
full-time resident. But it reduces
stress so I like that, too."
Yet there are selections even
these ubiquitous music lovers
refuse to listen to.
"I'll perform procedures to
anything besides rap," says Dr.
Friedland. "There's something
about rap music that's really not
conducive to working'
Dr. Altshuler admits, "I like
everything but Michael Bolton.
I just can't stand him."
Dr. Phillips, meanwhile, has
his own solution when his resi-
dents can't reach that mutual
decision. "I know that not every-
one likes and appreciates clas-
sical music," he says, "but I'm
the boss."
Usually, the music that doc-
tors prefer to play in the oper-
ating room is the same type
of music they get an earful of
at home or in the car. There
are, of course, exceptions to this
rule.
"We had a party at our house
last week and everybody was do-
ing the Macarena," says Dr.
Phillips. "I don't see that song
becoming too popular in
surgery." 0

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