With Christmas just around the corner, a group of UNMC students is spreading holiday cheer this year through song.
The students have put together a grass-roots acapella singing group started by Laura Newton, a third-year medical student.
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“It’s been really rejuvenating,” Newton said. “Several of us had been in singing groups during high school and undergrad. We really missed doing it. It’s great camaraderie.”
“Just like the Nebraska Medical Orchestra, this is a perfect example of an activity that can help students relieve some of the stress that comes with pursuing a health professions degree,” said Steve Wengel, M.D., assistant vice chancellor for campus wellness and the group’s faculty sponsor.
“It’s also a great way for them to give joy to others — another form of healing, if you will. I really want to applaud these students for getting this up and running. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
In essence, Newton said the singing group is part of the medical center’s Healing Arts initiative.
“This is not just a Christmas thing. We hope to do this throughout the year,” Newton said. “We want to bring some music to patients while they are stressed. It’s a great way to interact with patients outside the clinical setting.”
On Tuesday, the students sang about 10 Christmas carols in the waiting area of the Adult Intensive Care Unit on 5 West in University Tower and in the lobby of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. They also went room-to-room in the pediatrics unit on the seventh floor of University Tower.
On Wednesday evening, the students performed in the Lower Storz Pavilion to a group of pediatric patients and their family members.
Newton offered her thanks to Derrick Fox, D.M.A., assistant professor and director of choirs at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, for providing his assistance to the singing group.