Developing a Mindfulness Skills-Based Training Program for Resident Physicians

Resident physicians experience a high level of stress. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to offer medical students and physicians a healthier way to relate to daily stressors. We developed and pilot tested a mindfulness training program and assessed its impact on resident physician burnout and resilience.

The residency program offered 17 family medicine residents a 10-hour mindfulness training over the course of 2 months in 2016. Residents were encouraged, but not mandated, to attend. Experienced Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teachers and a family physician/integrative health fellow cotaught the program. A research team qualitatively assessed deidentified, postintervention resident interviews. Residents completed four quantitative questionnaires preintervention, immediately postintervention, and 3 months postintervention. A t score was calculated to assess for statistical significance.

Three residents (18%) attended all five training sessions, seven residents (41%) completed at least four sessions, and 16 residents (94%) completed either one or two sessions. Eight residents completed the postintervention interview. Twelve, nine and 14 residents completed the four questionnaires at the three time points, respectively. Qualitative results identified multiple personal/professional benefits of participating in mindfulness training, and we found a statistically significant decrease in perceived stress and increase in mindful awareness from pre- to postintervention (P<.05).

A resident physician mindfulness training program can be reasonably integrated into the residency schedule as part of the wellness curriculum required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Preliminary results show potential for personal growth and positive changes in patient relationships.