Activity Description / Statement of Need
In response to the increasing pace and complexity of medical practice, physicians (and those in training) are experiencing unprecedented levels of job dissatisfaction and burnout, affecting their sense of well-being and the quality of care they provide. A powerful but under-recognized approach to these challenges is to enhance physicians’ capacity for mindfulness. Mindfulness in medicine refers to the ability to be aware, in the present moment, on purpose, with the intention of providing better care to patients and to take better care of ourselves. Mindfulness is at the core of clinical competence. The proposed program will give faculty the skills and tools to teach students and residents to become more mindful during daily clinical practice. Our recently published research in JAMA demonstrated that courses in mindful practice and mindful communication results in lower burnout, and greater well-being, empathy and patient-centered orientation to clinical care. In addition, mindful practice may result in fewer errors, a greater sense of presence, the ability to see a situation from multiple perspectives before reacting, and greater satisfaction from work. Our current health care environment makes mindful practice very challenging. Accordingly, this workshop will address these external barriers as well as participants’ and learners own internal barriers to self-awareness such as unexamined emotions, premature closure, over-concreteness and emotional exhaustion – which then manifest as feeling overwhelmed by suffering, ignoring the obvious, treating others like objects, withdrawing from unpleasant or anxiety-provoking situations, having difficulty tolerating ambiguity and uncertainty, and making hasty decisions. Promoting Mindful Practice in Medical Education will prepare course participants to help learners develop situational awareness, interpersonal awareness, self-awareness and self-monitoring during everyday work. While this course uses meditation techniques developed as part of a variety of spiritual traditions, the course content, format and exercises are completely secular. Course Prerequisites - Openness to self-awareness, meditation exercises and taking small risks in the service of advancing self-knowledge
- Prior experience with any form of contemplative practice in the broadest sense would be preferred but not required.
Objectives At the conclusion of this activity, participants should be able to: - Incorporate mindful practice curricula into their undergraduate, graduate and continuing education programs
- Lead experiential exercises that involve meditation, mindfulness, self-awareness exercises, narrative writing, group discussion and didactic material
- Enhance their own capacity for self-awareness and self-monitoring, including attentive observation, curiosity, informed flexibility and presence
- Apply neuro-cognitive psychological principles to their understanding of mindful practice
Accreditation / Certification The University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry designates this educational activity for a maximum of 15.0 AMA PRA Category 1 creditsTM. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Application for CME credit has been filed with the American Academy of Family Physicians. Determination of credit is pending. |
