Student Spotlight: Frank Lee Weaves Music into Medicine

From youth violinist to aspiring oncologist, Frank Lee is integrating his love of music with his passion for medicine and healing, performing for patients and starting the Music in Medicine group at UC Irvine.

In 2012, a 13-year-old Frank Lee, dressed in a black tuxedo, took center stage for a solo performance of the Mozart Violin Concerto #3, accompanied by the San Diego Youth Symphony.

“My dad was my violin teacher, and I fell in love with the instrument,” says Lee, who grew up wanting to be a violinist. “I started training really intensely, practicing hours a day and competing in multiple competitions.” His victory in one of those competitions led to his impressive Mozart performance.

Almost 15 years later, Lee is starting his fourth year as a medical student at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. While he now aspires to be an oncologist, he is finding that integrating music and medicine gives him the best of both worlds.

Pursuing Medicine

Lee’s success as a young musician coincided with his father’s health struggles. “When I was 6, my dad was diagnosed with kidney cancer,” says Lee. The diagnosis had a profound impact on Lee and his family.

“Over the course of a decade, I felt helpless watching his health slowly deteriorate,” says Lee. “I wanted to do something to help.”

Looking back, Lee says this sparked his initial interest in medicine, although it was music that continued to bring them joy during difficult times.

“We used to play this game with the radio,” says Lee, explaining how his dad would tune in to a classical music station. Then, without knowing the artist, they would try to guess the composer based on the piece’s “energy” and style.

“I like to think that medicine is like that too, guessing the diagnosis without knowing the disease,” says Lee. “When my father passed, I promised him that I would keep classical music an intimate part of my life, regardless of what profession I chose.”

Yet, after his father’s passing, Lee decided against becoming a violinist and stopped playing altogether. He instead attended UC Berkeley and studied microbiology. “In college,” he says, “I cemented my passion for medicine and decided to apply to medical school.”

Performing for Patients

“It was only after college that I was able to pick up the violin again,” says Lee. “When I got into UC Irvine for medical school, I thought, ‘There must be a way to integrate music with my passion for medicine and healing.’”

His passion aligned well with the Health Education to Advance Leaders in Integrative Medicine (HEAL-IM) program, which is one of the reasons he was drawn to UC Irvine. “I thought HEAL-IM would be a great avenue to develop my passion for blending music and healing together, and I am so happy to have joined the program.”

Another program shaping his UC Irvine experience is the Medical Humanities and Arts Program (MHAP), led by Juliet McMullin, PhD. “Dr. McMullin has been instrumental in my growth as a medical student with an interest in medical humanities,” says Lee, who has performed at many MHAP events. He has also collaborated on a variety of MHAP projects, including one with classmate Sceptre Ganasi that explores narrative medicine and the experiences of non-English-speaking patients with a serious illness.

Yet when Lee wanted to perform for patients but wasn’t sure where to start, it was his research mentor, Jennifer B. Valerin, MD, PhD, who suggested playing at the infusion center for the UC Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“I gave it a shot one day, and it has turned out to be one of the most rewarding parts of medical school,” says Lee. “Patients, their family members and staff all really enjoy the music and say how much it brightens their days.”

Music in Medicine

As Lee continues to learn how his two interests complement each other, he has started a campus group called Music in Medicine (follow their Instagram account). This new community of UC Irvine medical students now regularly performs music for patients, including those at the infusion center.

They recently hosted a weeklong concert series called April Arias, performing in the lobby of the UCI Health Douglas Hospital. “It was a very big hit,” says Lee. “We are a group of roughly 15 medical students who love to perform and who are always ready to provide free, live music for any UC Irvine event!”

For example, Lee also performed at the 2026 Willed Body Ceremony of Thanks, an event honoring the more than 1,000 Californians who donated their bodies in support of health education and advancing scientific research.

Lee stresses that he is one of many medical students at UC Irvine with musical talent.

“Marisa Nwoke and Nellie Kwang both have beautiful voices, and Michael Liew is a very talented jazz pianist who can improvise like a champ,” he says. “Jacob Paavola can sing and play piano, and Rebecca Jacobson is a far more talented violinist than me. These are just a few of the many talented individuals at UC Irvine!”

Looking to the year ahead, Lee hopes to match into internal medicine with a hematology/oncology fellowship on his way to becoming an oncologist.

“I am also interested in integrative health and blending that interest into the field of oncology,” he says, adding that he looks forward to fulfilling his promise of keeping classical music central in his life.

“I like to think that my dad is happy with what I’ve accomplished so far and hope to accomplish in the future,” he says. “My dream is to continue playing violin as a physician, enjoying the best of both worlds.”

— Shani Murray