Arrhythmias an Outlet for School of Medicine and Public Health's Closet Rock Stars

It could be argued that there is no higher calling than to practice medicine. After all, there aren't many careers where saving lives is part of the job description.

 

And yet, one group of medical students pursues this noblest of professions while harboring dreams of rocking out on a stage in front of thousands of screaming fans.

 

Meet the Arrhythmias, the house band of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. When they're not measuring heart beats, they can be found laying down the beat for their fellow students, faculty and staff, and alumni.

 

Asked if these future doctors secretly aspired to be rock stars, the nine-piece band unanimously responded as if to say, "Well, duh."

 

"I've always said I either wanted to go to med school and be a doctor, or be a pop star," said Lindsey Vogelman, one of the band's singers.

 

The Arrhythmias exist both to entertain their peers and to provide an outlet to relieve stress from the rigors of medical school.

"My Plan B is to go to Broadway," said Allie Pratt, also a singer, adding that in a perfect world, she'd be a doctor at Disney World so she could play Belle in the "Beauty and the Beast" stage show.

 

Keeping the Beat for the Medical School

 

The history of the Arrhythmias dates back about 25 years, which the band members jokingly base on the age of some of their equipment. They perform at various medical school and community events, averaging about one gig a month.

 

The Arrhythmias recently performed at the Department of Population Health Sciences' 50th anniversary celebration. They also played Dec. 18 at downtown Madison's Come Back In, where they celebrated the end of the semester.

 

The group is always made up of second-year students, so the lineup changes every school year. Toward the end of each spring, the band members recruit and mentor a group of first-year students, ensuring the band will continue to play on.

 

The current lineup is:

• Jim Spencer (Spencer, Wis.), vocals
• Allie Pratt (Appleton, Wis.), vocals
• Lindsey Vogelman (Madison), vocals
• Mike Oldenburg (De Pere, Wis.), drums
• Dave Bruce (Niles, Ill.), guitar and vocals
• Erik Bieging (Chippewa Falls, Wis.), bass
• Torben Larsen (Spooner, Wis.), guitar
• Amrik Ray (River Hills, Wis.), electric violin
• Bill Ragalie (Wauwatosa, Wis.), piano

Many of the members have had formal music training. For example, Pratt is a classically trained cellist and has had vocal lessons. Ray also is classically trained, and Larsen has a background in jazz.

 

The Arrhythmias play just about anything that's conducive to getting people out on the dance floor. Their repertoire includes everything from '80s and '90s pop and rock to Motown. You might hear songs like Stevie Ray Vaughan's version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or a take on Tina and Ike Turner's "Proud Mary," which starts slow but finishes with a fury.

 

The group has developed a positive reputation for its entertaining shows, which has made it a frequent attraction at Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association events. The alumni association is a strong supporter of the Arrhythmias, and has provided funding for new equipment over the years.

 

"As part of our mission, we strive to make student life enjoyable during medical school.  The band certainly helps to pave the way," said Karen Peterson, executive director of the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association. "They are very popular with our students and alumni. And they are very generous with their time and talents. So we want to be generous in return."

 

A Great Stress Reliever

 

The Arrhythmias serve a dual purpose. While they exist to entertain their peers, the group also is one of many interest groups that enhance the medical school experience for students in the MD Program.

 

The UW School of Medicine and Public Health has a variety of medical student organizations that span professional, community-service and social interests. The members of the Arrhythmias use the band as a way to decompress and relieve some of the stress that comes with the rigors of being a medical student.

 

Member Dave Bruce said that since most of the students' time is spent in lecture halls, poring over case studies or learning important clinical skills, it's nice to have an outlet where they can focus on something else for a while.

 

It's also a way to stay connected to a lifelong interest. Both Bruce and Larsen played in bands prior to medical school, and performing with the Arrhythmias helps them "keep their chops up," to borrow a phrase from the musical vernacular.

 

"It's kind of fun to do this because it lets us engage in stuff that we used to do a lot more than we do now," Ray said.

 

James Shropshire, MD, a 1989 graduate of the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and one of the Arrhythmias' founding members, said music is more than just a stress reliever. It can have a profound and unique effect on us.

 

He noted that the ancient Greeks saw music as the study of relationships between internal, hidden objects. He said music has a way of finding invisible things, such as emotions and memories, and helping us to figure out the position of these things inside us.

 

"For some it's listening to music that helps relax and release. I've always found great enjoyment in playing music - creating with others especially," said Shropshire, a clinical associate professor of family medicine. "Playing with the Arrhythmias back in my med school days provided not only a release, but a chance to help create balance between the emotional and intellectual sides of the brain."

 

Mixing Music and Medicine

 

Though shredding guitar solos and delicate heart transplants are vastly different disciplines, it stands to reason that the same precision required of a fleet-fingered lead guitarist would also be required of a surgeon, right?

 

Well, OK, so you wouldn't let someone perform surgery just because he or she can play 32nd notes at 180 beats per minute. But there are some skills that translate from the stage to the operating room, such as improvisation and teamwork.

 

"Sometimes there are disagreements, but we overcome them and try to make everyone at least have some input on what we're doing and come to an agreement," Ray said. "Those are skills that may be useful later on."

 

Photos of the Arrhythmias

 

Date Published: 12/10/2009