From music to medicine: Western surgery resident brings passion for piano to health-care career
Dr. Cohen Chaulk’s path to medicine shaped his training as a surgeon
When Dr. Cohen Chaulk talks about surgical training, he starts with piano practice.
It’s not an obvious place to begin. But for Chaulk, MA’22 (Music Theory), MSc’24, the habits that matter most were formed in the hundreds of hours he spent at the keys, long before the operating room. As a classical pianist, he trained in environments where perfection wasn’t attainable.
“My piano teacher did not believe perfection existed,” he said. “There was always something to fix or improve.”
The lesson stuck.
Now a fourth-year general surgery resident, Chaulk finds himself drawing on those same hard-won skills – discipline, repetition, goal setting and comfort with critique. Surgery, like music, rewards patience and practice.
Read full article via Western News (February 26, 2026, by Emily Leighton)
PHOTO: With a background in music, fourth-year general surgery resident Dr. Cohen Chaulk draws on skills he honed as a pianist. He is pictured in an operating room at London Health Sciences Centre. (Megan Morris/Schulich Medicine & Dentistry)
