In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Spine Surgeon Dr. Elvis Francois is contributing his quota to through music.
Passionate about total healing inside and out, Dr. Francois who recently graduated residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where he gained notoriety for singing to his patients, combines medication with music to ensure deeper reach of well-being. Recently he released a four-song EP titled Music Is Medicine with fellow resident Dr. William Robinson who takes on the piano.
The EP which plays host to a collection of covers including John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Bill Withers’ supports health care workers on the front lines and the everyday vulnerable folk struggling during quarantine with proceeds dedicated towards support the Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s COVID-19 Response Fund. The EP was the 16th-biggest seller via digital album sales, according to Alpha Data, the data analytics provider that powers the Rolling Stone Charts, Rolling Stone reports.
“When we were thinking about what to do with this opportunity we’ve been given, we wanted to find a way to help our colleagues. We’re specializing to be surgeons, but some of our colleagues are in the emergency departments and ICU,” Francois says. “We also want to help people who are vulnerable in the population: those who lost their jobs or whose children can’t get meals from school.” He tells the site.
Dr. Elvis Francois grew up in a single parent home with his father, an Haitian immigrant whose successful business in Haiti fell apart amid civil unrest. Undeterred, his father picked up the pieces and didn’t lose faith through having to relocate and all. Watching his father work multiple jobs just to create a better life for his brother and him inspired him greatly, moulding the man he grew up to be.
Dr. Elvis had right from childhood dreamt of becoming a spine surgeon but the road to bringing it to reality wasn’t smooth – He didn’t get into med school the first time he applied but he pressed on and today, not only is he making waves healing through medicine, his deeply rooted passion in music also endears him to his patients and the spotlight – Dr. Francois recently had the honours of performing for the @nygiants in front of a live audience.
“I’ve always realised the goal of life isn’t to avoid the thunderstorm…but to learn how to dance in the rain…”
“I spent the first 20 years of my life in what people would consider poverty in America …and in that poverty I learned that if I could be happy with absolutely nothing at all. I could be happy in the face of anything.” He says.
Well done!
Credit: Dr. Elvis Francois Instagram
