Why do these professionals so enjoy turning up the tunes while operating? They cited music's ability to ease the tension in the room and keep everyone focused.
"It calms the nerves and improves staff morale," said one surgeon.
Alan I. Benvenisty, M.D., a New York-based vascular and transplant surgeon at Mount Sinai Health System who did not participate in the survey but does regularly listen to music during his work, cites the Who as one of his favorite bands to listen to in the operating room, and explains that it calms him.
"I like listening to the stuff I used to listen to while I was an 18-year-old kid at the Fillmore East," he tells Men's Health. "It takes me back to my youth and puts me in a calm, familiar place. Music is nostalgic and allows me to get in the zone."
And even for a surgeon of his specialty, no operation is too delicate to go without a soundtrack of some kind—within reason, anyway.
"If it’s a complex case, we’ll put music on at a lower volume," he says. "We never let the music dictate the demeanor of the procedure. We make sure it doesn’t get in the way of interpersonal communication because that’s the most important thing. I can’t exactly be tapping my fingers to the beat!"
If you're interested in hearing what your surgeon may be turning up while you're completely out, Spotify has assembled a playlist of the rock songs named by those surveyed. Check it out below.
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