Have you ever walked by a hospital patient’s room at Williamson Medical Center, stopped, and said to yourself, ‘Did I just see a doctor singing to one of our patients?’ Chances are you did, and it was one of Williamson Health’s hospitalists, Dr. Michael Babb.

The Oklahoma native lived and practiced in Cushing – a small town with a big reputation as the oil pipeline crossroads of the world – for 27 years. He has had a passion for music since he began inscribing his poems onto lined staff paper as a young teenager.

“My mother made my brother and I play the piano, but I wanted to play the guitar,” he recalled. “Well, they bought him an electric guitar and me a bass organ, which I wasn’t happy about!”

Fortunately, his brother never learned to do much with the instrument after busting one of its strings. Babb then figured out how to masterfully strum the five-stringed guitar and got his own acoustic version at age 16. He basically riffed others’ songs for his own enjoyment while singing at church and school.

Soon, however, his fascination with medicine took priority as he focused for years on the career he really wanted since he was four. Babb had always admired his neighbor who walked around with a black doctor’s bag in the waning era of house calls. Still, in his rare spare hours as the new Dr. Babb, he continued to write music. Then he met his future wife, Tamie, who he’s since been married to for 25 years.

“My wife, bless her heart, bought me a keyboard to help put my music’s notes onto sheet paper, but I don’t play the keyboard all that well,” laughed Dr. Babb. His wife encouraged him to read more about the music business and consider moving closer to other songwriters – in Nashville.

Dr. Babb began visiting Music City USA and connected with the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

“I traveled to Nashville for five days a month for years to attend seminars and try to pitch songs!” said Dr. Babb, who was then chief of staff at an Oklahoma hospital and owned his own clinic. “Music industry people frequently asked for me to be in Nashville, so Tamie and I decided to move here.”

He and Tamie settled in the music-friendly mecca of Midtown, about equal parts distant from his and his wife’s current employers. She is a Hendersonville-based OB-GYN. He was attracted to Williamson Medical Center because the advertised Hospitalist role would give him blocks of time off to put his musical pen to paper.

“Once I started at Williamson, I realized there was such cooperation among everyone from housekeeping, food service and nursing all the way to the top,” said Dr. Babb. “All my colleagues and I get along and respect each other so well.”

Dr. Brad Bullock, Hospitalist Program Officer at Williamson Health, praised his teammate.

“He’s a fantastic doctor who spends as much time as needed to deliver the highest quality of care to every one of his patients,” said Dr. Bullock. “He pours himself into his work and his play – and that really shows in his music. He says he writes songs for kids, but you’ll find yourself singing along too!”

The couple’s blended family has eight children and 17 grandchildren, or as Dr. Babb calls them, “my test market.”

Dr. Babb’s website – click here for more – features several projects including a child-friendly kids’ pop collection. One of its ditties, “Walkin’ My Dog” even sparked a video that he released on YouTube (here) in February. He’s up to 36,000 views of the little film that has him picking, smiling and yes, walkin’ his dog in Midtown.

A couple of his songs have even made it to the Top 40 on the country charts in Norway and France, hits you may not know about, he said. For Dr. Babb, satisfaction comes from knowing he made someone happy.

“The best paycheck I get is when I get a note from a patient about how I’ve helped them in a time of crisis,” added Dr. Babb. “I love to be a problem solver and idea guy, and obviously if you can write music, you’re an idea person!”