New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Medical students taught meditation techniques to prevent burnout, improve care

Date:
October 30, 2013
Source:
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Summary:
Doctors commonly tell patients that stress can be harmful to their health. Yet when it comes to reducing their own stress levels, physicians don’t always heed their own advice.
Share:
FULL STORY

Doctors commonly tell patients that stress can be harmful to their health. Yet when it comes to reducing their own stress levels, physicians don't always heed their own advice.

Part of the problem, according to researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, is that medical schools don't include meditation and stress-reduction training in their curriculum. However, for the past three years all third-year students at Wake Forest Baptist have been provided guided relaxation and mindfulness meditation training known as Applied Relaxation and Applied Mindfulness (ARAM), thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The training is described in the fall issue of the Annals of Behavioral Science and Medical Education.

Studies estimate that 20 to 60 percent of physicians experience burnout at some time during their careers. This level of distress and strain can have a significant influence on the quality of care that doctors provide. It can also decrease empathy and compassion for patients and increase the likelihood of medical errors, said William McCann, Psy.D., associate professor of family and community medicine at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the paper.

"Research has repeatedly shown that mindfulness meditation and relaxation techniques can help moderate the influence of stress," McCann said. "In every stress-management program either mindfulness or relaxation is always included to decrease both the mental and physical wear and tear caused by stress."

The goal of the Wake Forest Baptist training was threefold: to help familiarize future doctors with techniques recommended in many medical treatment plans for patients; to reduce stress and prevent professional burnout; and to enhance performance by improving working memory and empathy and by moderating performance anxiety.

The ARAM training was composed of three sessions integrated into the third-year family medicine clerkship. According to McCann, 90 percent of the students found the class beneficial.

"The practice of medicine is a stressful challenge even for our best and brightest students," McCann said. "The rate of burnout among doctors is sobering and every medical school needs to include stress-management training in their curriculums."


Story Source:

Materials provided by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. "Medical students taught meditation techniques to prevent burnout, improve care." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 October 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131030185403.htm>.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. (2013, October 30). Medical students taught meditation techniques to prevent burnout, improve care. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 19, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131030185403.htm
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. "Medical students taught meditation techniques to prevent burnout, improve care." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131030185403.htm (accessed March 19, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES