From Music to Medicine: Two USU Graduates March to the Tune of a New Career

BETHESDA, MD, UNITED STATES

06.10.2021

Story by Ian Neligh 

Uniformed Services University

Blood pressure, respiration, heart rate — the human body is affected positively by the power of music in countless ways.

It is perhaps then not a stretch that two accomplished military musicians transitioned from the world of music to medicine and found helping people ultimately struck a powerful chord.

Air Force Capt. (Dr.) Steve Mowen and Navy Lieutenant (Dr.) Trevor Elam both graduated from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) on May 15.

Both graduates started their musical and medical aspirations encouraged by their friends and family and have dedicated themselves to the pursuit of healing others.

The Ensemble

Sitting with his grandmother as she taught piano is one of Elam’s early inspirations for playing music. By the time he was in junior high, it had fully taken root. An opportunity came to play clarinet in his middle school band and he took it. While Elam’s initial motivation may have come from a desire to be with friends, his passion for playing music soon manifested after one particularly successful concert, accompanied by a standing ovation.

“I enjoyed the rigorousness of how methodically one has to practice to get good — I liked that,” Elam said.

After graduating high school he went to Eastern Illinois University where he studied under the clarinet professor. Elam graduated in 2009 with a music degree and a teaching certificate — but given the economic difficulties of the time, couldn’t land a teaching job.

“So I was working minimal jobs, but I made it a priority to keep practicing and while I was waiting for the next round of teaching applications to come out I said, ‘well, I might as well make good use of this time and I kept practicing.”

He then applied for several orchestras, including with the Navy and Army.

“And I won the job with the Navy band,” said Elam. He enlisted in 2010 and attended boot camp, then technical school where he learned the fundamentals of his new job including military drill and ceremony.

“Three years, the bulk of my time, was in Naples Italy — that was a great experience,” Elam said. There, the band was used to support efforts to bridge and help build partnerships between NATO countries. “I felt like I was making a difference doing this job but I couldn’t do it forever… so that’s when I did some soul searching: ‘what would I do if I wasn’t doing music?’”

While overseas, Elam ended up taking an anatomy and physiology class taught by an American endocrinologist who loved medicine.

“He mentored me and convinced me that medicine was the way to go,” Elam said. He soon realized it would be too difficult to do his medical school prerequisite classes while still in the military.

Elam said he and his wife, who was also in the same military band, agreed he would get out and go to school while she helped to support him. He attended Northwestern University for a post baccalaureate certificate in premedicine and before long he was accepted to attend USU. He soon discovered the hours he had once dedicated to practicing music now translated to studying in medical school, but that’s not where the similarities end.

“As a clarinetist, I didn’t practice for practice’s sake, I practiced because the ensemble relied on me to be able to play the part well — just like my patients will now depend on me to know the material well,” Elam said.

• Date Taken: 06.10.2021
• Date Posted: 06.14.2021 13:10
• Story ID: 398856
• Location: BETHESDA, MD, US