And for a stethoscope slung over her shoulders, she has substituted a guitar. Louise Dimicelli-Mitran is the Infusion Room's first minstrel. Ms. Dimicelli-Mitran is one of 3,327 certified music therapists nationwide.
Music is medicine.
And a dose of this kind of medicine is now being administered more often to treat patients with cancer. It was not too long ago that music therapy was considered little more than a balm. All that changed after scientists discovered that Muzak piped into a New York City intensive care unit seemed to help lower the mortality rate 8 percent below the national average. Or that lullabies played in a neonatal nursery might have helped premature infants gain weight and speed their discharge home. Music therapy is on the books as hard science.