If Doctors Could Prescribe Music: The Ultimate Healing Playlist

The Prescription Pad Meets the Playlist
Imagine this: After writing prescriptions for antihypertensives, antibiotics, and SSRIs all day, you scribble a final one:

Rx: 1 dose of Mozart before sleep. Refill: unlimited.

It sounds whimsical, but more doctors are recognizing music as more than background noise—it’s a neurochemical intervention, a coping tool, and for many of us, a mental health lifeline.

If physicians could prescribe music, what would be on the playlist? Let’s dive into the rhythms that heal.

Why Music Deserves a Spot in the Medical Toolkit
Scientific literature backs what many already feel instinctively:

• Music activates dopamine and oxytocin pathways
  
  
• It reduces cortisol and promotes relaxation
  
  
• It can improve focus, enhance surgical performance, and modulate pain perception
  
  
• Music therapy is used in dementia, anxiety, stroke recovery, and chronic pain
  

In short, music is evidence-based wellness—no co-pay required.

The Doctor’s Playlist: Tracks for Every Medical Mood
Let’s imagine a curated playlist categorized by the common “symptoms” of life in medicine. Because let’s face it, we all need emotional prescriptions too.

1. For the Post-Call Brain Fog
Diagnosis: Mental exhaustion, emotional depletion
Prescription: Lo-fi beats, ambient instrumentals, binaural focus music
Examples:

• “Weightless” – Marconi Union (clinically proven to reduce anxiety)
  
  
• “Intro” – The xx
  
  
• Lo-fi playlists like “Beats to Study or Sleep To”
  

Why: These tracks help you land softly after a crash landing of a shift.

2. For Pre-Surgery Focus
Diagnosis: Anticipatory stress, surgical adrenaline
Prescription: Instrumental power, minimal lyrics, rhythmic precision
Examples:

• “Time” – Hans Zimmer
  
  
• “Clubbed to Death” – Rob Dougan
  
  
• Any track from the “Inception” or “Interstellar” score
  

Why: They channel intensity without distraction—perfect scalpel music.

3. For Rage After Bureaucracy
Diagnosis: Burnout, EMR fatigue, insurance battles
Prescription: Cathartic power ballads, rock, or even metal
Examples:

• “Lose Yourself” – Eminem
  
  
• “Numb” – Linkin Park
  
  
• “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – Nirvana
  

Why: Sometimes the best medicine is just loud.

4. For Grief After a Patient Loss
Diagnosis: Sadness, moral injury, emotional heaviness
Prescription: Gentle vocals, melancholic tone, slow tempo
Examples:

• “Fix You” – Coldplay
  
  
• “Tears in Heaven” – Eric Clapton
  
  
• “The Night We Met” – Lord Huron
  

Why: Music holds space when words fail.

5. For Morning Rounds Motivation
Diagnosis: Lack of energy, dread for the list ahead
Prescription: Upbeat tempo, inspiring lyrics, mild caffeine via melody
Examples:

• “Walking on Sunshine” – Katrina and the Waves
  
  
• “Stronger” – Kanye West
  
  
• “Happy” – Pharrell Williams
  

Why: Because yes, we do need a hype song for ward 6B.

‍⚕️ 6. For Imposter Syndrome Days
Diagnosis: Self-doubt, perfectionism, questioning your worth
Prescription: Empowerment anthems
Examples:

• “Fight Song” – Rachel Platten
  
  
• “This Is Me” – The Greatest Showman
  
  
• “Titanium” – David Guetta ft. Sia
  

Why: Remind yourself you're more than enough. The lab coat fits just fine.

7. For Wind-Down Rituals After Work
Diagnosis: Overstimulation, mental clutter
Prescription: Acoustic, jazz, classical, world music
Examples:

• “Clair de Lune” – Debussy
  
  
• “River Flows in You” – Yiruma
  
  
• “The Look of Love” – Diana Krall
  

Why: Music that doesn't demand—just embraces.

If Specialties Were Songs...
Let’s have some fun. What songs fit your field?

• Emergency Medicine: “Under Pressure” – Queen
  
  
• Psychiatry: “Mad World” – Gary Jules
  
  
• Internal Medicine: “Fix You” – Coldplay
  
  
• Dermatology: “Smooth Operator” – Sade
  
  
• Ob/Gyn: “Push It” – Salt-N-Pepa
  
  
• Pathology: “Somebody That I Used to Know” – Gotye
  
  
• Pediatrics: “Never Grow Up” – Taylor Swift
  
  
• Surgery: “Don’t Stop Me Now” – Queen
  

How Doctors Actually Use Music Daily

• During documentation to ease the mind-numbing EMR clicks
  
  
• Between patients to reset
  
  
• On commutes to decompress
  
  
• In call rooms for emotional escape
  
  
• In operating theaters for rhythm and calm
  

Some hospitals even allow curated OR playlists. Surgeons report lower perceived stress—and in some cases, even better intraoperative efficiency.

Why Music Is a Silent Mentor in Medicine
Music doesn’t just make us feel good. It:

• Enhances memory consolidation
  
  
• Reduces pain perception
  
  
• Helps with sleep and anxiety
  
  
• Creates rituals for transition: pre-shift, mid-shift, post-shift
  
  
• Validates our emotions when no one else seems to get it
  

And unlike CME credits or scrub color codes, it doesn’t judge.

Final Note: Let’s Prescribe It More Often—To Ourselves, Too
Not everything in medicine needs to be sterilized, standardized, or ICD-coded.

Music lets us feel what we often can’t say. It helps us process, recover, and reconnect with the part of ourselves that got into this field for more than protocols.

So go ahead:

Prescribe your patients an antibiotic.
Prescribe yourself a playlist.