Gabriel Planas-Borgstrom benefited from music therapy while undergoing treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a teenager. Now he’s back at CHOP as a music therapy intern and will return to Temple in fall 2026 to pursue his master’s in music therapy.
Gabriel will return to Temple in the fall to complete his master's in music therapy after completing his bachelor's in music therapy this spring.
Photo by Ryan S. Brandenberg
Gabriel Planas-Borgstrom
Degree: Bachelor of music, music therapy
College: Boyer College of Music and Dance
Hometown: Bordentown, New Jersey
Next stop: Returning to Temple for his master’s in music therapy
Why I chose Temple: “What sold me on Temple was when I came for a shadow day and found out from the director of the music therapy program, Mike Zanders, that a lot of the people that he did his undergraduate, master’s and PhD with at Temple all went out into the world and become deeply involved in other music therapy programs. That's when it hit me that Temple is a hub for music therapy. Temple is a place where so much of the field has branched out from. I knew that for my education I wanted to be right at the source of all that.”
Transformative Temple moment: “The most transformative thing I’ve experienced while being a Temple student has absolutely been my current internship. I’m a music therapy intern at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). It’s a familiar setting because CHOP has been a part of my life since I was 14 years old.
“When I was 14, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma for the first time. I underwent treatment for about a year and then relapsed in April 2020, right before my 16th birthday. I underwent more treatment and was declared officially in remission again when I turned 17. Along that journey, I met so many incredible people at CHOP. When it came time to figure out what I wanted to do for college and as a career, it struck me, like, ‘Hey, I grew up in a musical family. Receiving music therapy was an experience that touched me so deeply, and that could be something that I do for other people.’ So I started applying to programs for music therapy.
“It’s been really interesting coming back in this context and getting to work with kids who are going through similar experiences to what I had in the hospital but also getting to be one of their supporters and somebody on their care team. I couldn’t have done that without all the help from my classmates, professors, family and friends who have become family who helped me along the way to grow into the right person to fit that role.”
What’s next: “After I finish my internship in July, I will be able to take my board certification exam and become a board-certified music therapist. From there, I’ll be looking for part-time work because I’m also starting my master’s in music therapy back at Temple in the fall.”