Photo credit: Jack Yang

Dr. Sydelle Ross

Hello! I’m Dr. Sydelle Ross and I would like to welcome you to my little online nook. Thank you for stopping by. I’d like to start by telling you a little bit about myself. First and foremost, I have always loved singing. When I was a child growing up in the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, I told my parents that I would become a singing doctor. While pursuing my professional courses of study, I continued to sing but purely as a hobby.

I eventually became a doctor. I became a board certified anesthesiologist and I later sub-specialized in both pain medicine and hospice and palliative medicine. Once I started forming meaningful relationships with persons who were living with chronic, life-threatening/life-limiting illnesses, I felt that I needed to offer more to my patients. I felt that I was being called to do more. Knowing that I always had a passion for music and singing, I decided to create an alliance between music and medicine that I could offer to my patients.

I have sung at the bedside of my dying patients, sometimes in private and at other times in the setting of a small bedside concert. These experiences have kindled a desire to share more of my gifts and talents with others. I became a volunteer singer with an organization that offers healing arts to people residing in long-term care facilities.

As I continue this work, I hope to collaborate with healthcare professionals of various disciplines (music therapists, neuroscientists, psychiatrists, psychologists) to design effective ways of making music an integral part of the healthcare experience, not only in the United States but throughout the world.

“I Sing Because I Feel”
-Dr. Sydelle Ross