Bluegrass is Good Medicine!

Real Doctors -  Real People Spotlight on Banjo Pickin' Cardiologist David Tate

David Tate, a cardiologist at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill, NC goes beyond the boundaries of surgical steel and blood-thinning prescriptions when treating patients.  Tate treats his heart patients with steel strings, finger picks and high-lonesome harmonies.


Tate picks his banjo – signed by legendary Earl Scruggs – as part of the band Fescue 911. He also puts on impromptu concerts for patients to lift their spirits.



"I hate for people to be just a patient ...or a case,  so I always try and find out who the person is.  The special attention helps patients forget about their sterile surroundings and illness, if only for a few minutes", Tate said.

Tate often does small, impromptu concerts bedside for his patients, but on November 7th, 2010, Tate and his band Fescue 911 held a full-blown benefit concert for Jan Johannson, a patient on the list waiting for a heart donor.  Johannson is also the fiddler in Fescue 911.


Tate's patients listen to his banjo pickin' largely due to the fact that Tate listens to them.  "What really makes a good musician and what really makes a good physician is a real dedication to listening - almost always the experience of having really been listened to has a healing impact on a patient", Tate said.


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