The Singing Doctor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijNeN6LqF4w

The “Singing Doctor”

With World Health Day falling on this week, I felt it would be appropriate to use this week’s blog to honor and show appreciation to a healthcare worker. Dr. Elvis Francois, known to many as the “Singing Doctor” is best known for viral videos on social media of him using his vocal gift to sing songs of encouragement and promise. Most recently, Dr. Francois has been seen almost everywhere from Ellen, CNN, ABC News and recently featured on The View. Through a connection of a mutual friend (which basically makes him my friend now), I was able to chat with the doctor and get to know the man behind the viral videos a little better. First, for him to take a little time out of his very busy and demanding schedule to talk with me speaks volumes to his character. It wasn’t too far into the conversation, when I realized the inspirational videos do not even begin to scratch the surface of the beacon of light that he truly is. Throughout our conversation I got to know a little more about him as a person, his love of all music, and what inspires him. Check out the interview below:

Katrina: First, I want to say how grateful I am for the opportunity to speak with you. I know how busy you are, and I really appreciate you for doing this.

Dr. Francois: No, thank you for this opportunity. I’m honored that you would want to speak with me, and anything I can do to help, I’m happy to do it.

Katrina: Let me start by asking, how are you doing during this time of uncertainty?

Francois: It’s very uncertain times and a lot of moving parts. I’m an orthopedic surgeon resident, I’m in a specialized part of medicine, so for us and many doctors across the board who are in specialized medicine, we’re essentially waiting to see how we can best be utilized. I’m currently in Rochester, MN, and for me personally, I’m taking care of trauma patients who may or may not have COVID-19, but once the system starts to reach peak capacity, at that point, we’ll be asked to do things outside of our specialty. Ultimately, thankfully I’m doing well, but it will be interesting to see how things shift gradually in these upcoming weeks.

Katrina H: Well, I wish you the best and thank you to you and all doctors for really putting yourselves out there to protect us.

Francois: You’re welcome.

Katrina: You’re obviously a doctor, who can obviously sing. Was being a doctor always the chosen path or was there ever a time you wanted to pursue music as a career?

Francois: For me, growing up, medicine and surgery have always been the primary goal of mine. Music is something I’ve only started to gravitate to this much maybe the past couple of years; the last 2-3 years, I’ve been engaging more. Throughout my whole life, I’ve always gravitated to music, whether just listening to it, or appreciating melody, or appreciating lyrics. I’ve always wanted to live a life where I could give more than I took, and for me, that would be through medicine or surgery. Music for me over the past few years has been a reminder of all the things that surgery can’t do, or medicine can’t do. Surprisingly, I’ve never been in the position, maybe ‘because I’ve never been that good at music at any point, for it to be a question, so for me it’s just been enjoying and sharing. Over the past couple of years, I’ve been doing more of it, and sharing it with patients, and seeing how things have taken off in the past few months and years. To answer your question, medicine has always been my cornerstone. It’s a unique position to be in, and I’m definitely honored to wake up each day and be in this position.

Katrina: I was first introduced to your videos a few months back  when our mutual friend, Sam, posted a video, but you've post a few videos that almost always go viral; did you expect this type of response when you decided to start posting?

Francois: Great questions. It was interesting the very first time I posted. Medical school and residency is very time consuming, especially in the earlier phases, so I was consumed in that. There was a day I had a long case and there was a song I just kept singing, and I was at the hospital, and I sang and posted it. I didn’t think much of it, then; maybe a couple weeks later, I got very interesting feedback from people on the internet and on social media, We had done a few covers before, and I had no idea that it would have that sort of response; it’s been very amazing to see how music itself, (paused to think); there’s very few things that every single person on the planet can relate to and very few things that every person in the world gravitate towards, and music is one of them. I personally had no idea the impact it would have and the reach that it has had, but it’s definitely been a constant reminder of how it can bring us together and bond us.

Katrina: Two part question: How do you kind of decide what songs to sing and then how do you decide which videos to post or do you just post them all?

Francois: For me, a lot of the thought process is, music is nothing without meaning; even if it’s a song without lyrics. If I’m listening to it, and I don’t feel anything, then it doesn’t mean anything to me. The songs, that I decide to sing and share, start with me. It has to be a song I feel, that means something to me, and usually when I decide on a song to sing, it would have something I connect to, and I hopefully share with people, and they can connect to it as well. Usually I’ll have an idea in my mind, and I’ll ask William Robinson, who’s one of the orthopedic surgeon residents here. He’s the guy that plays the piano in the videos. I’ll ask him can he learn a song, and it’s amazing; he’ll learn the song, and then we’ll go to the hospital and record it in like 20-30 min. It’s amazing to see how we can find something that brings us together and bring people together across the world.

Katrina: I’ve always found music to be healing, and obviously you share that same sentiment, but in your words, how does music heal you?

Francois: I grew up with a single father from Haiti, and he was mainly the only person there working 2-3 jobs. There was a song he would always sing; I often tell this story because it highlights what music means to me. So, he would literally sing this same exact song; he’s not a good singer, but he would always hum it. Good days, bad days, it would be the one thing that kept him level and balanced. For me, music has that same affect; that’s why I always gravitate towards it. Say if I’m on a 28 hours-call shift, and I’ve had a pretty tough day dealing with things at the hospital, coming home and trying to destress and reset my balance, music has always done that. I’ve always found that in music; I can always tap into a deeper understanding of what’s going on. So, that’s how I’ve kind of always been drawn towards music and the major reason I would say is how I saw my father engage music.

Katrina: What is your favorite genre of music?

Francois: There are one or two genres I listen to more than others, but I wouldn’t necessarily say they are my favorites. I listen to hip-hop and R&B mostly. If you look through my search history there may be a month where I’m listening to Frank Sinatra, a month where I listen to pop, a month where I listen to EDM, three months where I listen to Motown, so I have a wide range of music I listen to. The only thing I can’t listen to is death metal/heavy metal where they’re like screaming into their guitar (laughs). But the beauty of music is that music is so universal. I think it’s important to listen to music other people like to listen to. When I talk with them, I can say, I wonder what you like about this, and you can kind of understand their life journey and understand them a little better. I kind of like to keep my ear open for different genres, there’s something for everyone.

Katrina: If we could scroll through your playlists what type of music would I find?

Francois: A lot of The Weekend, a lot of Future, and a lot of this band called Rufus Du Sol, that’s probably the top 3. I listen to a lot of everything but those are the top 3.

Katrina: Rufus Du Sol? I don’t think I’ve heard of them, I’ll have to check them out.

Francois: Yes, definitely check them out.

Katrina: So, you listen to a lot of Future, will we be getting any videos of you singing any of his songs (laughs)

Francois: (laughs) No, you won’t see me posting any Future videos; maybe on my Snapchat stories; you may catch them there.

Katrina: Is there anything we’d be shocked or surprised to find out about you?

Francois: People would be surprised to know that I’m very much a laid back type of person. I think sometimes people may think I’m very uptight or white collar type of person, but I’m not. I’m very much laid back and pretty much get along with everyone.

Katrina: I can see that, you’ve been very open, and it’s been easy to talk with you.

Francois: Thank you; I appreciate that.

Katrina: You’ve been on Ellen, CNN, they shared a clip of you while I was watching the View a couple of weeks ago, and how are your patients reacting to seeing you on these platforms?

Francois: It’s pretty amazing to see patients who like to talk about music. The hospital can be a very scary place, with things beeping; you don’t really know what’s going on; there’s a lot of anxiety. Sometimes when they mention music, and we get to talk, it brings a smile to their face even if just for a short time. We just talk about music or something else, and it helps you learn a little more about that patient and lets them know they can take a second to smile. That’s the coolest thing about it when they bring it up. Being able to sing with them in the hospital has been really cool. Those are some of the perks that come with it I guess.

Katrina: What’s the response been like from your family surrounding your new “celebrity”?

Francois: Pretty incredible; my family is from Haiti, but they live in New York now. My dad will get calls from Haiti like “hey is that your son”? He’s a cab driver in New York, so he’ll only hear from his friends what’s happening, and he’ll call like I heard this, or I heard that, and he very much expresses how proud he is of me. I think that’s like one of the highlights of my day to know that all the things he’s made it through, and that I make him feel that way.

Katrina: That’s amazing! Ok, last question I have. What is the most important message you hope to send everyone viewing these inspiring videos?

Francois: For me, it’s always purpose driven. For me, music has to be going in a direction, whether it’s giving someone a little more motivation when their going through a tough situation. Maybe they can wake up the next day with a little more energy, maybe to plant a seed of hope, maybe it’s just to remind someone that they can just get through. My goal, in all of this, is to give hope, and uplift.

During this interview it was evident that Dr. Francois is walking in his purpose and doing what he sought out to do when he entered medicine. Whether it’s through physical healing or healing spirits through song, Dr. Francois is the saving grace that this world is so desperately in need of.