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When patients step into Dr. Yein Lee’s clinic at UNT Health Fort Worth, they might hear more than the usual beeps and quiet chatter of a medical office. Violins, piano pieces or even the strains of opera sometimes fill the space.

That’s because Lee, an associate professor at UNT Health’s Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, specializes in performing arts medicine, a field not widely known in the medical world. Her patients are musicians, dancers and other artists whose injuries and physical strains are as much a part of their profession as broken bones are for athletes.

“An artist’s injury isn’t just physical,” Lee said. “It threatens their identity. That’s why we need doctors who truly understand the performing arts.”

Lee, who is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation as well as osteopathic neuromusculoskeletal medicine, came to this specialist through personal and professional paths. She grew up in South Korea, moved to the United States at age 16, and pursued both music and science. At one point, she imagined a career as a violinist or an art historian.

But a serious car accident while she was in graduate school required long months of rehabilitation. That experience led her to medicine, where she found meaning in helping patients recover movement and independence. During residency, she attended a conference session about performing arts medicine and realized there was a way to combine her medical training with her musical background.

A mentorship with Dr. Sajid Surve, a pioneer in the field, helped set her course. Lee later joined Surve at UNT Health, where she and Surve co-founded the Division of Performing Arts Medicine.

The division focuses on three pillars: clinical care, education and outreach, and research. On the clinical side, Lee and her colleagues provide specialized treatment for collegiate programs, professional companies such as Texas Ballet Theater and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and uninsured artists through community clinics.

Education and outreach are equally important to her. The division trains fellows and student doctors, and Lee often visits dance studios, music schools and local organizations to talk about injury prevention. She also finds strong parallels between the lives of medical students and performing artists.

“Performing artists and medical students are alike — talented, constantly judged and under pressure to perform at the highest level,” Lee said. “My job is to help them thrive without losing who they are.”

Lee’s osteopathic training gives her a unique approach to treatment.

“Even if I have no tools, I always have my hands,” Lee said. “Osteopathic care makes us unique in how we treat artists.”

The research pillar is still in development, but Lee has her eye on a long-term goal: recognition of artist injuries as occupational health issues. She hopes to build local and state collaborations that eventually expand to national and international policy work.

The challenges are significant. Performing arts medicine is not a revenue driver for health systems, and research funding can be difficult to secure. Still, Lee thinks the work is vital, not only for the individual patients she treats but also for the cultural life of North Texas and beyond.

She finds joy in small victories — sitting in the audience, for example, watching a musician or dancer perform again after months of treatment.

“I can’t always tell the world, but in that moment, I feel immense pride knowing I helped make that possible,” she said.

Lee lives in Dallas with her husband, a former opera singer. She plays violin only occasionally these days, but music remains central to her life. Whether in a concert hall or a clinic room, she is guided by the same principle: caring for the artists who bring beauty to the world.

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