[Mindfulness for medical, surgical and psychiatric residents]

Mindfulness based stress reduction (mbsr) has been demonstrated to result in a reduction of stress and improvement of well-being in both healthy volunteers and the general population.
AIM: To examine the effect of mbsr on burnout symptoms, well-being and professional development in medical, surgical and psychiatric residents. METHODS A randomised controlled trial of 148 medical, surgical and psychiatric residents of the Radboud umc, half of whom immediately participated in mbsr and half after a three-month waiting period. Self-report questionnaires were administered online before and after the intervention and waiting list period. Effect of mbsr on professional development was explored with a qualitative interview with a purposive sample of 19 residents six months after completion. RESULTS No differences were found between the mindfulness and waitlist group regarding emotional exhaustion in the study population as a whole. However, those with high level of burnout symptoms benefitted significantly more from the course than the others. In addition, participants in the mindfulness group demonstrated a higher competence, less worry and more mindfulness skills, self-compassion and empathy. In terms of professional development, residents reported improvements in self-awareness, insight, acceptance, resilience and relating to others.
CONCLUSION: mbsr could result in a reduction of symptoms for medical and surgical residents with a high level of burnout symptoms. For the medical and surgical residents as a whole, mindfulness may enhance their professional development in several areas.