Medicine and Music: Jonathan Dominique Tunes In
We’re highlighting our Class of 2025 students in advance of Match Day on March 21. Stay connected with the Miller School of Medicine on social media for more student profiles and to follow along for live Match Day coverage.
Jonathan Dominique’s first exposure to the medical profession came when he was in elementary school, and his mother was studying to be a nurse.
“I’d sit and parse her anatomy and medical texts,” said the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine 2025 M.D. candidate.
When Dominique was in sixth grade, he watched the documentary film “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story,” based on the famed neurosurgeon’s autobiography.
“I went home and said I wanted to be a doctor,” he recalled.
A Sound Pastime
Dominique’s Haitian-immigrant parents — his mother is an RN at UM/Jackson Memorial Hospital and his father is a clergyman — encouraged him to work hard at school. He applied himself to the study of science, and he excelled. But he also loved music.
“I loved being able to pick up an instrument and figure out how to play it,” said the self-taught multi-instrumentalist who was born and raised in Miramar, Florida. “It was always a struggle balancing the two.”
He wanted to pursue a stable career, so he was not inclined to become a professional musician. But music felt like more than just a hobby.
In his sophomore year at the University of Florida, Dominique realized that he could apply his passion for music in a public setting, and he volunteered for the Arts in Medicine program. Playing the piano in atriums and hallways at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, then as an accompanist for Dance for Life — a program for patients with Parkinson’s disease — he saw firsthand how music can provide comfort and healing.
“You see people stop and listen. Some come over and thank you,” he said. “It showed me how powerful this seemingly private hobby of mine is.”
Growing up as the eldest of four siblings, Dominique listened to every style of music. His early years were informed by the gospel music he heard in church as well as by jazz, R&B and hip-hop.
As a medical student in the NextGenMD Ethics and Humanities pathway, Dominique’s research project focused on music. Working with a recreational therapist at the Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center at UM/Jackson, Dominique interviewed patients who had experienced traumatic brain injuries. He talked with them about the challenges they faced, how they felt about their initial diagnosis and the ups and downs of rehabilitation. Then he used the interviews as inspiration for original compositions.
“This has been the biggest intersection of my music and my future career as a physician,” he said.
Helping Patients Feel at Ease
Although Dominique was certain that he wanted to be the first physician in his family, deciding on what kind of medicine he wanted to practice took a while.
“I love working with my hands,” he said. “I love being in the operating room in a critical setting, knowing something could go wrong and it’s up to me to see that it doesn’t.”
Ultimately, he decided not to apply for surgical residencies and instead to aim for a slot in anesthesiology. He wants to start a family one day, and he knows that music will always play a big role in his life.
“But surgical residency training requires physicians to give up too much of their personal lives,” he said.
Dominique has been told by patients that the way he speaks and carries himself puts them at ease.
“As a future anesthesiologist,” he said, “I hope to carry that same energy around me, to convey that same spirit of calmness.”
Tags: anesthesiology, Match Day, Match Day 2025, medical students, Miller Schcool of Medicine, music and medicine, NextGenMD, NextGenMD humanities pathway