There has been a fascinating discussion thread that several members of Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir have been participating in. It was inspired by the interview I did with medical student and Virtual Choir member Laura Slattery.
I thought I had already written an article explaining why approximately 60% of medical students have studied music but alas, I have not. To make up for it, I did track down some articles that have already been done on the subject:
Achieving Balance: Medicine and the Arts
Do Musicians Have Better Brains?
Music, Medicine and the Art of Learning
I think a lot of it has to do with the benefits of learning music. Many transferable skills are taught, which affect how quickly we musicians can process data and make decisions. Ah, now this reminds me of an article I did write. I'll update it and post it here.