The objective of the Mindful Medicine program is to expose learners to empirically supported mindfulness-based skills that can be integrated immediately into their daily lives in order to reduce stress, cultivate healthy compassion for self and others, and improve resiliency. The ultimate goal is to reduce the likelihood of burnout. This brief, multi-modal certificate program is designed to be easily integrated into learners' busy schedules with options for learning independently.

Outcomes

  • Integrate core mindfulness-based, resiliency skills into daily routine in order to use deepen capacity for navigating currents of life
  • Understand the role of body awareness in self-care and deepen their own body awareness
  • Define and practice the concept of radical acceptance and identify moments in daily life when they could practice this skill
  • Define self-compassion and integrate it into daily self-care practice
  • Integrate brief compassion exercises into their interactions with colleagues and patients

Curriculum Overview

Evidence suggests that teaching mindfulness is gaining momentum in medical education and may help foster resiliency, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being in medical students. However, integrating mindfulness training into learners’ rigorous schedules can be challenging. To meet that need, this brief, multi-modal program was created to provide learners flexibility in how they incorporate the program into their complex schedules and also gives them skills they can put into practice immediately.

Value of the Program

Program evaluation suggests that this brief, 4-session program in mindfulness-based stress reduction skills, which is made available to learners through both in-person and online modules to meet learners’ need for flexibility in scheduling, significantly reduces perceived stress and improves resiliency in participants over time and compared to learners who do not participate. Qualitative results of program evaluation suggest that students find the program helpful. They were able to integrate the material into their daily lives and reported greater sense of peace and connection.