Cut & Paste: A Doctor Who Sings, Or A Singer Who Heals? For Ken Haller, It's All Connected

As a pediatrician who is also an accomplished cabaret artist, Dr. Ken Haller says he may play several roles over the course of a day: teacher, doctor, friend, singer. He says those roles are all different aspects of his chief pursuit: being a healer.

Haller explores the link between arts and healing in an improvisational acting course he leads at St. Louis University School of Medicine and in his latest cabaret show, “The Medicine Show,” which he’ll perform at Blue Strawberry in St. Louis on March 14. It’s also the subject of a five-year effort recently launched by the Arts & Education Council with help from an $850,000 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health, called the Arts and Healing Initiative. 

He says some of the efforts to explore the relationship between arts and healing in the St. Louis region could prove to be national models.

In this episode of Cut & Paste, Haller also explores:

• What it means to be a “citizen artist.”
• How the principles of improv comedy affect how he interacts with patients. 
• The importance of doctors putting themselves in the shoes of their patients.

Look for new Cut & Paste podcasts every month on our website or your favorite podcast app. You can find all previous podcasts here.

The podcast is sponsored by JEMA Architects, Planners and Designers.

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