The Mindful Medical Student

The essential primer on surviving the rigors of medical school--and thriving there--through the application of self-knowledge, self-care, and self-control

Following up on Mindful Medical Practice, this book describes in detail how mindfulness is being taught to medical students, residents, practicing physicians, and allied health care professionals. Steps to set up and integrate programs into curricula are featured and educators’ questions concerning practical aspects of doing this work are addressed. The argument on how to promote the kinds of leadership and cultural changes necessary are also discussed along with the many challenges facing health professionals in multiple settings. Mindful Medical Practitioners is an invaluable resource that raises interest, provides a rationale and details how to integrate mindfulness into clinical work and serves as a guide for those qualified to teach it.

This unique, step-by-step guide for instructors offers a comprehensive approach to teaching pre-clerkship medical students -- as well as residents and even experienced physicians -- about the transformational impact of mindful medical practice, or mindful whole person care. Indeed, integrating contemplative practices – such as “presence” and “relationship” -- into medical education is an established but still rapidly growing approach to bringing experiential learning to medical students. This book gives the rationale for administering a mindful medical practice (MMP) course, details the moment to moment process for each of the 7 classes that are outlined, and summarizes a way forward for instructors. Pages of the book can be copied and used in class with students, and there are appendices that include helpful tools a teacher can immediately copy and hand out in each class. Handy, one-page templates are provided at the end of each chapter for teachers to use as a guide while teaching each class. A unique contribution to the medical literature and the increasing focus on mindful medical practice, MD Aware: A Mindfulness-Based Whole Person Care Course Guide for Physicians is not only the ideal resource for teachers interested in setting up an MMP course in a medical school; it is also an invaluable practical guide for any clinician hoping to learn more about the importance and benefits of offering mindful medical practice to patients – and to themselves as healers.

This book is about being mindful in clinical practice and how mindfulness enhances the quality of patient care while adding depth and meaning to a clinicians’ work. Chapters include narratives from clinicians who consciously apply mindfulness in real life settings. Authors from various settings provide examples that capture how emergent mindfulness is. Mindful Medical Practice demonstrates to physicians, residents and students how mindfulness enriches both their practices and lives.

With his “deeply informed and compassionate book…Dr. Epstein tells us that it is a ‘moral imperative’ [for doctors] to do right by their patients” (New York Journal of Books). The first book for the general public about the importance of mindfulness in medical practice, Attending is a groundbreaking, intimate exploration of how doctors approach their work with patients. From his early days as a Harvard Medical School student, Epstein saw what made good doctors great—more accurate diagnoses, fewer errors, and stronger connections with their patients. This made a lasting impression on him and set the stage for his life’s work—identifying the qualities and habits that distinguish master clinicians from those who are merely competent. The secret, he learned, was mindfulness. Dr. Epstein “shows how taking time to pay attention to patients can lead to better outcomes on both sides of the stethoscope” (Publishers Weekly). Drawing on his clinical experiences and current research, Dr. Epstein explores four foundations of mindfulness—Attention, Curiosity, Beginner’s Mind, and Presence—and shows how clinicians can grow their capacity to provide high-quality care. The commodification of health care has shifted doctors’ focus away from the healing of patients to the bottom line. Clinician burnout is at an all-time high. Attending is the antidote. With compassion and intelligence, Epstein offers “a concise guide to his view of what mindfulness is, its value, and how it is a skill that anyone can work to acquire” (Library Journal).

Examining-room computers require doctors to record detailed data about their patients, yet reduce the time clinicians can spend listening attentively to the very people they are trying to help. This book presents original essays by distinguished experts in their fields, addressing this critical problem and making an urgent case for reform, because while electronic technology has revolutionized the practice of medicine, it also poses a unique challenge to health care. Smartphones in the hands of doctors and nurses have become dangerously seductive devices that can endanger their patients. Distracted Doctoring is written for anesthesiologists and surgeons, as well as general practitioners, nurses, and health care administrators and students. Chapters include Electronic Challenges to Patient Safety and Care; Distraction, Disengagement, and the Purpose of Medicine; and Managing Distractions through Advocacy, Education, and Change.

"Perhaps our real work, whether offering or seeking care, is to recognize that the healing relationship--the field upon which patient and practitioner meet--is, to use the words of the mythologist Joseph Campbell, a 'self-mirroring mystery'--the embodiment of a singular human activity that raises essential questions about self, other, and what it means to heal thy self." --Saki Santorelli Today we are experiencing extraordinary technological advances in the diagnosis and treatment of illness while at the same time learning to take more responsibility for our own health and well-being. In this book, Saki Santorelli, director of the nationally acclaimed Stress Reduction Clinic, explores the ancient roots of medicine, and shows us how to introduce mindfulness into the crucible of the healing relationship, so that both patients and caregivers begin to acknowledge that we are all wounded and we are all whole. His approach revolutionizes the dynamics of the patient/practitioner relationship. In describing the classes at the clinic and the transformation that takes place in this alchemical process, he offers insights and effective methods for cultivating mindfulness in our everyday lives. As he reveals the inner landscape of his own life as a health care professional and we join him and those with whom he works on this journey of human suffering and courage, we become aware of and honor what is darkest and brightest within each one of us.

A new educational paradigm for youth mindfulness. “If you are a teacher, or an educator, or involved in school administration and curriculum development, the book you hold in your hands has the potential to transform your life, the lives of your students, and the life of the school itself, as well as education in America.”—Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, from the Foreword With attention spans waning and stress on the rise, many teachers are looking for new ways to help students concentrate, learn, and thrive. The Way of Mindful Education is a practical guide for cultivating attention, compassion, and well-being not only in these students, but also in teachers themselves. Packed with lesson plans, exercises, and considerations for specific age groups and students with special needs, this working manual demonstrates the real world application of mindfulness practices in K-12 classrooms. Part I, Why Mindful Education Matters, explains what mindfulness is, the science behind its benefits for students and educators, and the inspiring work that is already underway in the Mindful Education movement. In Part II, Begin with Yourself, we are reminded that in order to teach mindfully, we need to be mindful. Here teachers will learn the when, where, and how of mindfulness so they can effectively embody its practices with their students. Mindfulness practices offer teachers self-care and attention skills that prepare them to teach with greater energy and mastery. Discover how simple exercises can help manage stress, focus attention, develop compassion, and savor positive experiences in everyday life. Part III, Cultivating a Mindful Classroom, explores the qualities of a mindful teacher, the ingredients of a mindful learning environment, and helpful skills for appropriate, supportive work with cultural diversity, student stress and trauma, and varying age groups and developmental stages. Finally, in Part IV, Mindful Education Curriculum, we learn eighteen ready-to-use mindfulness lessons for use in schools. These practical exercises, designed to foster skills like embodiment, attention, heartfulness, and interconnectedness, can be readily adapted for any age group and population, and the author draws from his extensive personal experience to offer a wealth of tips for introducing them to students in real-time. Decades of research indicate the impressive benefits of mindfulness in social, emotional, and cognitive development, and as an antidote to emotional dysregulation, attention deficits, and social difficulties. This book invites teachers, administrators, and anyone else involved in education to take advantage of this vital tool and become purveyors of a mindful, compassionate, ethical, and effective way of teaching.