Abridged mindfulness intervention to support wellness in first-year medical students

Medical students experience a high burden of stress and suffer elevated rates of depression, burnout, and suicide compared to the general population, yet there is no consensus on how to address student wellness.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an abridged mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention can improve measures of wellness in a randomized sample of 1st-year medical students.

Fifty-eight participants were randomized to control or 8-week MBSR intervention and then invited to participate in the study. All participants were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Resilience Scale (RS), and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) at 3 separate time points: baseline, at the conclusion of the study intervention (8 weeks), and at 6 months after the conclusion of the intervention. The intervention consisted of 75 minutes of weekly class time, suggested meditation at home, and a half-day retreat in the last week.

The intervention group achieved significant increase on SCS scores both at the conclusion of the study (0.58, p=.002), 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.23, 0.92], and at 6 months (0.56, p=.001), 95% CI [0.25, 0.87]. PSS scores achieved significant reduction at the conclusion of the study (3.63, p=.03), 95% CI [0.37, 6.89], but not at 6 months poststudy (2.91, p=.08), 95% CI [-0.37, 6.19]. The study did not demonstrate a difference in RS after the intervention, though RS was significantly correlated with both SCS and PSS.

An abridged MBSR intervention improves perceived stress and self-compassion in 1st-year medical students and may be a valuable curricular tool to enhance wellness and professional development.