Sam Wang

Hey y’all! My name is Samuel Wang. I’m in my last year of medical school at UT Health San Antonio, currently in the process of applying to pediatric residency programs to continue my training as a doctor. I graduated from Liberty in 2013 and was a percussionist throughout all of middle and high school. (Go Falcons and Redhawks!!!)

Participating in band was easily one of the best decisions I have ever made. I formed so many awesome friendships and lifelong memories! I wouldn’t change a thing! It also taught me many important lessons that I still carry with me today.

Learning an instrument requires a lot of hard work and dedication. You have to set goals for yourself and then persistently strive to get better. That same principle holds true in school, your future career, or whatever you want to accomplish. I set objectives for myself constantly as a medical student, and it gives me something to work towards as I perfect my craft.

Band also taught me the value of receiving constructive feedback and then implementing changes. To get better at your instrument, you have to utilize the advice you receive from your band directors or private lesson teachers and make adjustments. I can’t tell you how crucial feedback is during medical training. It’s important for my grades, but it’s also vital in helping me learn how to be a good doctor. I’m always asking my supervisors for suggestions on how to improve at something, whether it be how to take a better history from patients or perform a particular physical exam skill. Recently, I was in an interview for residency, and the program director mentioned that doctors who had a musical background usually were better at responding to feedback!

Being in band also taught me the importance of teamwork. You learn to work well with others as you come together to accomplish the goal of making beautiful music! You have to do your part and also know how it contributes to the rest of the group. In the hospital or clinic, I work with teams of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. We all have our specific roles that we strive to do well, but together we form a cohesive unit that helps to provide quality care to our patients.

Medicine is sometimes described as both a science and an art. We help our patients by providing treatment based on scientific, evidence-based principles. However, we also have the opportunity to be a comforting, healing presence by showing empathy and sitting with them in hard moments. How you treat patients is just as important as what you’re treating them with. Music is kind of similar. You have the correct notes on the page, but it’s how you play those notes that creates room for expression of emotions and forming a connection with an audience. In an abstract way, being involved in music has allowed me to better understand what it means to form meaningful human connections.

Here’s one really niche story for all the potential percussionists out there: When I was learning how to hear extra heart sounds (noises like murmurs or clicks that happen before or after heartbeats) with my stethoscope, I was really surprised to find that understanding rhythm made this so much easier. Many of my classmates had trouble orienting themselves, but I found that if I treated the heart cycle as a “measure,” I could break sounds down into patterns that made sense to me.

Lastly, life lessons aside, being in band gives you something interesting to talk about! Your co-workers or supervisors want to know that you have interests outside of work or school. I talked about my involvement with music on my college, medical school, and residency applications. It also came up frequently during interviews. And who knows? Maybe someone you meet or work with participated in band too!