A gynecologist from the Bordeaux Nord clinic was filmed singing in the operating room. A way for her to soothe her patients in the face of stress before an intervention.
It is a scene that did not leave Internet users indifferent. This Saturday, as a wish for the transition to the year 2023, Philippe Cruette, Managing Director of the Bordeaux Nord Atlantique Group, posted on social media a video seen tens of thousands of times and widely shared.
We see Dr. Aïcha N’Doye, gynecologist and senologist surgeon, in her hospital uniform, singing the title If I Ain’t Got You of the American singer Alicia Keys to a patient, just before the anesthesia of the latter.
Remedy for stress
While listening to soothing music in the operating room is becoming increasingly common, having a surgeon who sings to soothe her patients is exceptional. On the video, the patient even jokes, dropping a “we’ll be back” when Dr. Aïcha N’Doye finishes her song.
The surgeon started singing when she was an intern in medicine. “A patient was very agitated at the time of the anesthesia, impossible to infuse her, to put her to sleep so I told myself that I was going to try to sing her a song”, she explains to BFMTV this Thursday.
“She focused on my voice and that calmed her down,” says the one who “always sang in (her) youth”.
Songs adapted to the situation
She says she realized that her songs allowed patients to be more relaxed before anesthesia and surgery. “Where I work, I have patients in complex situations, a lot of oncology or very long care pathways,” she explains to our microphone.
Aïcha N’Doye says she adapts to each situation and each patient: some do not need a song, others ask her for a particular song…
“There are patients who really need to be soothed and calm, others need something more playful”, says the surgeon.
“Our world of hospital health is sometimes difficult but what is it beautiful”, concludes Philippe Cruette in his text accompanying the video, adding that “these moments represent all the values that we carry”.
