Dr Maria Boulton chats music, medicine and mindfulness

Transcript: AMA Queensland President, Dr Maria Boulton, ABC Radio Brisbane with Rebecca Levingstone, Tuesday 12 March 2024

Subjects: Music, medicine and mindfulness

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: We're talking, but the music continues tonight, because every Tuesday you get to hear something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Sometimes it's a musician choosing, sometimes it's a businessperson. You never know who's going to turn up. Tonight, it’s a doctor, a GP. She's choosing the music. Dr Maria Boulton, President of the Australian Medical Association Queensland. Hi, Maria.

DR MARIA BOULTON: Hi, Rebecca.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: It's so nice to have you here. And we're not going to talk about a health crisis or ambulance ramping, we're going to talk about music. Thank you for doing this.

DR MARIA BOULTON: Thank you.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: I have a theory that a lot of doctors are also decent musicians. Now, is that a kind of myth I've created in my mind, or would you say that's true?

DR MARIA BOULTON: No, it is true. And there's actually a lot of medical musical orchestras as well. And sadly, I'm not a performer. I tried, I dabbled with piano and guitar, and it's interesting because genetically, my mother is a brilliant performer and a brilliant musician, and yet it seems to have skipped a generation.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: What kind of a performer was your mum?

DR MARIA BOULTON: She can sing, she can play the guitar, she can play the piano all by ear. She doesn't read music; she just works it out, just by listening to the songs.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Is she any good at medicine?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Well, she'll tell you she is, but it's not her day-to-day job.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Well, you’ve got to divide up the skills in the household. That's so interesting. I wonder if there is something in the medical brain and the musical brain. Even though you're claiming you're not that great, clearly you've dabbled a bit. Has there ever been any research, I wonder, to look at the medical musical brain crossover?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Well, there is a lot of research saying that if you expose your child to music at an early age, they're more likely to be able to do more with their studies. So certainly, if you have the opportunity and if you have the luck to be able to encourage your kids to play an instrument or to sing, it's a really good way to also encourage them to study.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Dr Maria Boulton in the studio tonight, President of the Australian Medical Association Queensland. She's a GP, she's also a fan of music, and judging by your selections, Maria, you're a fan of movies as well. Are these all soundtrack songs that you've chosen?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Yes, I love movies, and the reason why I love them so much is I grew up watching these epic movies and now it really is my mindfulness. I know that for two hours, if I have the time to watch a movie, I can turn my phone off and I can just think about the movie and nothing else. I really get into it, and I think that movie soundtracks just make the difference between a good movie and a fantastic movie.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: All right, well, let's get into your song selections for tonight. Something old, you've gone for Lara's Theme from…

DR MARIA BOULTON: From Doctor Zhivago. So this is a movie from the 1960s, and Lara's Theme was written by Maurice Jarre, who also wrote the score for Lawrence of Arabia, so very epic music. And it's really cool because my grandparents actually love this song and when I was married, it was one of the songs we played during the ceremony.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: We've got the instrumental version tonight from Doctor Zhivago. Epic romance, and drama. It's so perfect for you as a doctor. Yuri Zhivago, a married physician and poet whose life is altered by the Russian Revolution and subsequent Civil War. And then, of course, his love interest, Lara. So, 1965 was when Doctor Zhivago came out.

DR MARIA BOULTON: Correct. And there's a lot of epic music soundtrack songs from that era. The other one's Love Story, another epic song. Strangers in the Night, Girl from Ipanema, there's all these amazing songs that I sometimes hear in hotel lobbies, and everybody just stops and listens, because it just brings back memories of where they were when they watched that movie, or perhaps when they were reading that book. Doctor Zhivago was originally a book and dare I say it, this is one of the times where the movie's actually a little bit better than the book. Controversial?

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Very controversial because that never happens. Are you sure?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Yes. It's my opinion that absolutely yes.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: I like it. Dr Maria Boulton, we're not going to argue with you. Songs from a multitude of soundtracks tonight. Something old, new, borrowed, and blue. Something new is a total contrast. Where are we landing?

DR MARIA BOULTON: It is. I guess we're landing into the recent past, much newer. And as a parent, it's always very challenging to find a movie that both your children like. My children are three years apart, and to land on a movie that they both enjoy and also to land on a song that they both play is really interesting.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: How old are your kids?

DR MARIA BOULTON: They are grade 12 and grade nine.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Okay, and three years apart. All right, tricky times. Go on.

DR MARIA BOULTON: Tricky times. Girl and boy, so it's not often that we can agree on what to watch within seconds. Normally, it takes negotiation, dialogue and sometimes dictatorship. We get there eventually. And this one is from the movie Maverick, who everyone said saved the cinema - post that virus that is still going around.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Yes. Mission Impossible, Tom Cruise. We needed the sequel that we waited 40 years, I think, or something like that.

DR MARIA BOULTON: Yes. And God, wasn't it superb too, though? And so entertaining. That escapism, it’s what you go to the movies for.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: I 100 per cent agree. I remember it premiered on my birthday, 16 May, because I remember saying “well I’m going on a date with Tom Cruise… along with my husband” and it was so good. So, the song you have chosen from Mission Impossible Maverick is the song that featured during the beach scene with a lot of shirtless, shiny, fit men and women.

DR MARIA BOULTON: Yes, and some epic moves from the character rooster.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Let’s see if we can pull some epic moves tonight. This is One Republic, I Ain’t Worried, on ABC radio Brisbane in Queensland.

I should have been worried because I was saying Mission Impossible when it’s Top Gun. Maria, were you too polite to correct me?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Yes.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: You should have corrected me! I was all psyched up with Tom Cruise and the beach. I knew what I was talking about.

DR MARIA BOULTON: I knew what you were talking about. Everybody knows what you were talking about, all good.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: You can correct me, it’s fine. This is the beautiful imperfection of radio, right? Alright, the song that Dr Maria Boulton can listen to alongside the movie she can watch with her children. So, it’s your daughter who is in year 12, how’s she going?

DR MARIA BOULTON: She’s going really well. She’s really lucky she’s got a lovely group of friends and she’s studying really hard. She actually wants to study medicine, so she needs to get those really top grades to try and get into medical school. But you know, she’s got all the support. And it’s really cute, this week because she’s got exams, my son has decided he is going to do all her chores and wash the dishes and it’s so sweet, he just volunteered on his own.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: This is the brother who is in year nine.

DR MARIA BOULTON: Correct.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: And he’s doing the chores for his sister?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Very sweet.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: And that is worth bragging about, that’s gorgeous. Good on you little brother. Also, how do you feel about her wanting to pursue medicine?

DR MARIA BOULTON: I feel very proud. It kind of came out of nowhere a bit, in that she only declared it about a year ago. Whereas I knew from about the age of five that I wanted to be a doctor, but for her it came a little bit later. And it’s just a lovely thing to see her wanting to help people and there’s a few girls in her group who actually want to study medicine. What makes me the proudest is that they don’t just want to become doctors they want to become GPs, and that just warms my heart.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: GP and proud mum, Dr Maria Boulton in the studio tonight on ABC radio Brisbane in Queensland. Alright, something old, something new, something borrowed, which people usually choose a cover song, but the field is wide open. What do you choose?

DR MARIA BOULTON: My sister and I were lucky enough to attend a performance a couple of weeks ago, and I’m sure many of you have watched Skyfall, James Bond. I mean, one of the best James Bond movies ever. My dad was a hug fan of James Bond, and we had the privilege to see Naomi Price perform with her company in a show called Rumour Has It where she basically channels Adele. And she performed this song, and it was just brilliant to see. We were sitting on the second row, and it was just such a great performance. And to have a local artist and a local band and backup singers, I do recommend that people catch her show, it’s amazing.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: World-class Naomi Price from the show Rumour Has It. Skyfall, selected for you tonight by Dr Maria Boulton. What a voice.

DR MARIA BOULTON: And such an entertainer, the show, you just laugh the whole time, it’s just brilliant. And to be able to access that in Brisbane. And yes, I have seen Adele and that was amazing as well.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Where did you see Adele?

DR MARIA BOULTON: At the Gabba. I’m really bad at booking tickets so normally I rely on my friends to say, “I’ve got a spare ticket do you want to come”, and it happened that a friend had a spare ticket, so I was able to go and see Adele, and that was epic too. And when she performed this song, she had all these dancers in tuxedos, and it was so brilliant to see and I was so privileged to have been able to go. This is a great song and I love singing it in the car or in the shower, it’s such a great song to sing to.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: I’ll just tell you as a little side note, Maria, that Georgina, my producer and I, are planning on introducing a segment. We haven’t decided yet if it’s going to be called the shower singer or the secret singer. We’re planning on unearthing Queensland’s greatest yet-to-be unearthed singer, and its only barrier to entry is if you’ve ever been paid to sing. So, have you ever been paid to sing?

DR MARIA BOULTON: No, so I could probably enter it. I don’t think I’d win though; I’d be terrible at it.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Good to know. We won’t have any of that negative energy on this show. Sing in the car, sing in the shower, you can enter. We’ll circle back to you on that one.

Just on Naomi Price, I was lucky enough to do a little behind-the-scenes chat with her as she was preparing for Rumour Has It. She belts out those songs so effortlessly, and as you say, the banter in between is so sassy and smart. She’s such a superstar.

DR MARIA BOULTON: She is, and the shows are so well produced. I’ve also caught some of her Christmas shows, and they are hilarious. They’re just a really great, fun night. In Rumour Has It she actually had some people playing the strings. So, she had violins and cellos, and she had a great drummer and people on the guitar and piano. Just incredible musicians. 

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: A good crew. Quite a few people are approving of your music taste tonight, Maria. Mr G says “Dr Boulton, what a groover. And great taste in movies”. And Jeff the Trucky just clarifying it’s Top Gun not Mission Impossible. Thank goodness Tom Cruise wasn’t here! I mean, he could be listening, technically.

DR MARIA BOULTON: You never know, and I’m glad that people are picking these things up and are listening and know their movie soundtracks.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: I know. So, all songs selected by Maria tonight are movie soundtracks. We’ve got time for one lucky last one. Something blue.

DR MARIA BOULTON: Sometimes you just feel like having a good cry, right? Perhaps you’ve had a terrible week or you’re really tired, and this movie always makes me cry. Barbara Hershey, Bette Midler, in Beaches. Always without fail. The other movie that makes me cry is Marley and me. These two movies, if I want a good cry, I just put them on.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Why do we feel better after we cry?

DR MARIA BOULTON: I think we just let it all out and some of that frustration and nervous, intense energy flows out of our bodies. And it just lets us sit with it, sometimes you just need to feel the sadness. Sometimes you just need to feel a little bit cranky as well. It’s nice to let it out but it’s also nice to leave it behind and move on and hopefully feel better after having a good cry.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Yes. Well, we will play Wind Beneath My Wings. But just to have a slightly different emotion in there as well, when I was looking this up ahead of you coming in tonight, I was like – oh what’s the history of this song and who wrote it? The song Wind Beneath My Wings was first recorded in 1982, do you know who by?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Was it Dolly Parton?

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: No. I’m sure Dolly’s done a version of it because she’s done a version of lots of different songs. No, I will play you the song, which was never apparently commercially released. See if you recognise this voice.

That deep, that baritone voice. It’s Kamahl. I don’t know why it just makes me smile, because Kamahl just has so many fingers in so many different pies. But to think that he did a version, apparently, he did it for a country/western album, but that doesn’t sound particularly country. He said it was the direction he wanted to go in. But this is 1982, Kamahl.

Bette Midler, Wind Beneath My Wings, I nearly needed the tissues, Maria Boulton.

DR MARIA BOULTON: I came prepared.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Rachel is on her way to a night shift at the PA hospital and says “you've got me crying. Wonderful song selection, Maria. Thank you for the segment”. It's just beautiful and I love that we got a little bit more of an insight into you and your mindfulness with movies, a little bit of downtime, because you're a busy person.

I think every GP is exceedingly busy. You also happen to be the President of the Australian Medical Association in Queensland. How much longer do you have that role for?

DR MARIA BOULTON: I will be stepping down in two months and hopefully somebody amazing will be taking over. We're just calling for election nominations at the moment, both for our President, Vice President, but also our Council roles, which is integral to what we do.

So, we have a lot of doctors from all different areas in Queensland and all career stages who form our Council, and they basically decide where to head with our policy and our advocacy. And I have such a brilliant team that supports all that work. It's been a very busy two years, and I couldn't do what I do without that team that backs us all up.

It's really interesting because I've also been reflecting on everybody else that has also supported me. Just listening to that song, it's my sister that I always think about when I listen to this song, not only because we used to watch Beaches non-stop when we were younger, but, you know, she's a much quieter person than I am. I'm out there and really she's just such a brilliant support for everything I do, and my children, and I'm so glad that I have her in my life.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: What's your sister's name?

DR MARIA BOULTON: Her name is Beatrice.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Well, that is beautiful. I would like to say I hope life slows down a little bit for you once you've stepped down as President of AMA Queensland, but you have multiple GP clinics to run. You know, there's so much support for GPs who are often the key doctor in people's lives. So, thank you for the work that you and your colleagues do, and thank you for the movie soundtracks tonight, Maria Boulton.

DR MARIA BOULTON: Thank you. It's been great to reflect on all the movies that I've watched and go travelling down memory lane. It just brings me back to those times when I was actually watching Naomi Price or watching Doctor Zhivago or listening to the stories about my grandparents dancing to Lara's Theme at their parties. It's just lovely to just reflect on all of that.

REBECCA LEVINGSTONE: Thank you so much. Tell Beatrice I said hello.