Tucked away in the unassuming halls of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s radiology department is an unexpected group of physicians who are also musicians. Beyond the hums of MRI and CT machines, three radiologists—Dr. Philip Scherer, Dr. Dan Brown, and Dr. Kate Frederick-Dyer—lead double lives, wearing white coats by day and playing strings by night.
Many at VUMC know Philip Scherer as the new Section Chief of Nuclear Medicine and PET. But what many don’t know is that he also plays music professionally. A lifelong musician—who first learned piano as a child—Dr. Scherer currently plays viola for the Tennessee Philharmonic Orchestra and violin for Orchestra Kentucky. He says that medicine and music are far more intertwined than many would expect.
“I think [playing music] helps prepare you for a professional career in medicine,” says Philip Scherer, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences. “It’s very similar. You have day one of medical school¬–you're starting as a blank slate. It's this principle of having daily consistent effort: studying, learning and practicing in order to hone your craft as a physician. It’s the same as a musician, in my case.”
For Dr. Scherer, being a doctor was never a question. From a young age, he would shadow his father, who was a doctor, and saw first-hand the relationship between patient and provider. His desire to help heal (just as his dad did) carried him to medical school.
But he never gave up his passion for music. Dr. Scherer went on to play during college, and performed concerts for patients alongside his brother, who was also in medical school.
“It's been a wonderful opportunity,” says Dr. Scherer. “It’s been an influential part of my life and played many roles.”
Over the years, not only has Dr. Scherer parlayed his love for music into a professional sphere by performing with orchestras, but he’s also integrated it into his community and family life. For example, he often plays piano during church service.
While Dr. Scherer has excelled in finding more traditional outlets for his music, other VUMC radiologists have given music a less formal, but equally as exciting role in their personal lives. Similar to Dr. Scherer, they also fell in love with creating at a young age.
“I've played one instrument or another since I was in third grade,” says Dan Brown, MD, Professor of Radiology and Vice Chair of Innovation and Clinical Research. “I played viola from third grade to eighth grade. Around that time, I realized the kids in my high school tended to beat up on the kids in the orchestra. I wasn't going to be on the football team, so I started piano for a year. Then I switched over to guitar and have played that ever since.”
Dr. Brown stuck with his passion and played instruments through medical school, using it to help reset after a tough day. It was during the early days of the pandemic that Dr. Brown started to really refocus on the guitar. As a self-taught player, he turned to video lessons to help guide him.
“The guitar is my ‘control, alt, delete,’” says Dr. Brown. “That’s a way you can take half an hour and repair.”
He, as many did, took to social media to share his quarantine hobby and find community during a lonely time.
“I played at home and just started sharing stuff on Twitter,” says Dr. Brown. “One guy that caught my attention is Bobby Chiong, who's an interventional radiologist in the Bronx. Bobby's got a pretty big Twitter following. He was starting to put music up in March and April 2020 when things were bleak.”
Dr. Brown started sharing his music as well using #DocsWhoRock.
“We had a little group of us that would put things together and another person that would mix it all,” says Dr. Brown. “That's probably where Kate saw it all.”
He’s referring to Kate Frederick-Dyer, MD, Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, who says that her recent musical renaissance is in thanks partly to Dr. Brown’s Twitter feed. She saw him post during 1970s-themed music week, and caught on to the variety of doctors using the #DocsWhoRock hashtag.
“He played ‘Layla’ (By Derek and The Dominos, featured in the film Goodfellas),” Dr. Frederick-Dyer recalls. “He played it all on guitar and it was incredible. I saw that and said, ‘I want to do this!’”
Growing up playing piano and singing in choir, Dr. Frederick-Dyer says she left her musical training behind once she started college and medical school. But just before Covid-19 took over, she felt the urge to pick it back up.
“I missed organized music,” she says. “I wasn’t in residency; the kids weren’t babies anymore. And then the pandemic hit.”
After seeing Dr. Brown’s cover, Dr. Frederick-Dyer whipped up a cover of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (by Elton John) and shared it with the world.
Then, Dr. Frederick-Dyer teamed up with her husband, Logan Dyer, to keep up with the weekly #DocsWhoRock themes. They collaborated with other musician-physicians to create fun musical medleys and covers.
The couple considered naming their band Dyer Consequences, but ultimately decided on Pandemic Date Night. The project helped them get through the stresses of the pandemic—and also put their new and conveniently acquired recording studio to use.
“We bought our house from a sound engineer before the pandemic,” says Dr. Frederick-Dyer. “It had this really well-insulated studio center in the basement. It was an opportunity for us to learn how to use it.”
Playing in Pandemic Date Night not only encouraged the couple to learn how to utilize their home studio, but also to explore software like GarageBand and continue experimenting with a wide variety of instruments.
A piano player since childhood, Dr. Frederick-Dyer has transposed her abilities across several modalities: piano, drums, tambourine, vocals, and a somewhat unorthodox instrument.
“I ended up with the accordion naturally,” says Dr. Frederick-Dyer. “It's delightful because the left-hand buttons are all chords. It's fun from a music theory standpoint because they’re arranged in the circle of fifths.”
“Dr. Frederick-Dyer is really impressive,” says Dr. Brown. “She has different skills. She translates between the instruments.”
Whether these VUMC radiologists are performing with a symphony or are rocking out with their community on Twitter, each of these musicians has something else in common: music is a family affair.
Dr. Scherer’s siblings play music as well. His sister even studied and performed in college and is a violin tutor and performer today.
Dr. Frederick-Dyer cites her dad as an amateur musician who influenced her aunt, a professional piano player. While she played piano and sang as a child, Dr. Frederick-Dyer only picked up the accordion after her younger brother (who has a knack for unusual hobbies) decided he didn’t have time to learn how to play.
As for Dr. Brown, his brother played as a professional bass player for several years and toured along the east coast.
And just as these radiologists share a family connection with music, they also have all found ways to incorporate music into their work lives. Luckily, VUMC is an institution that encourages the crossover.
“There are several things that drew me to Vanderbilt,” says Dr. Scherer. “Part of it is the culture. You have that camaraderie that you don't see in a lot of practices.”
“I love being in a place like this,” says. Dr. Frederick-Dyer. “We can let our hobbies blend into what we do and appreciate each other's work. It’s funny how that works out—finding a community within a community.”