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In This Issue:
Each summer, BWH welcomes a distinguished and diverse group of new residents to its training programs. This year, in a three-part series, BWH Bulletin spotlights a group of residents with unique experiences, backgrounds and talents.
As a child, Jonah Cohen, MD, wanted to be three things when he grew up: A basketball player, a musician and a doctor. Two out of three isn’t bad.
Now a first-year general surgery resident at BWH, Cohen can also call himself a professional musician. He sings and plays the guitar, and has published three full-length albums, all consisting of songs he wrote and performed.
“Music and medicine appear so different on the surface,” Cohen said of his two professions. “From a song-writing perspective, it feels like you’re trying to create something that you’ve never done before, whereas in medicine, it seems like you’re trying to learn principles which are more well-defined. In reality, both fields can involve so much creativity, and both are privileges to practice.”
Cohen’s residency is seven years long, with five years of clinical time and two years of research. Now that he is five months into the program, free time is a little harder to come by. However, he has no plans to give up his music.
“When I was still in medical school, a resident once told me ‘don’t stop doing the things outside of medicine that you love now, because it will only get more difficult to do them as life gets busier,’ which was such a profound point,” said Cohen, who still writes music and has stockpiled close to two new album’s worth of songs. He is also in the process of setting up a home recording studio.
“I feel very grateful to be a part of the BWH family,” said Cohen. “I have learned so much from the amazing people I meet here everyday.”
Cohen’s music is available on iTunes and on his website, www.jonahcohenmusic.com