Promoting Resilience in Medicine: The Effects of a Mind-Body Medicine Elective to Improve Medical Student Well-being

PMID: 32499968 PMCID: PMC7243374 DOI: 10.1177/2164956120927367

Abstract
Background: Poor mental health is common among medical students. In response, some medical schools have implemented wellness interventions. The University of Florida College of Medicine recently introduced a mind-body medicine elective, Promoting Resilience in Medicine (PRIMe), based on the Georgetown University School of Medicine course. PRIMe teaches meditation techniques including mindfulness, biofeedback, art, and journaling in a faculty-facilitated small group setting.

Methods: First- and second-year medical students (N = 24) who participated in the 11-week elective (3 cohorts over 2 years) completed anonymous surveys regarding their experiences. Measures included the Freiberg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI), Perceived Stress Scale-10 item (PSS-10), and a series of multiple-choice and free-response questions developed for this study. The study was approved by the University of Florida Institutional Review Board.

Results: Among students with available pre- and posttest scores, the average PSS-10 score at pretest was 14.4 (SD = 6.17, range = 3-26) and at posttest was 14.2 (SD = 4.17, range = 8-22), suggesting no change in perceived stress. However, average scores on the FMI improved from 34.4 (SD = 6.10, range = 24-47) at pretest to 41.8 (SD = 4.81, range = 33-49) at posttest. The overwhelming majority of participants (95.8%) described the course as "definitely" worth it. The greatest improvements were noted in mindfulness, relationships with peers, and having a safe place in medical school to receive support. Learning mindfulness/meditation skills and increasing social support were noted as the primary factors impacting student well-being.

Conclusion: A mind-body medicine elective course may be a practical method to improve medical student well-being and improve ability to care for patients. Future studies should include follow-up testing to determine if benefits are sustained over time. In addition, more work is needed to understand the cost-benefit of providing instruction in mind-body medicine techniques to all medical students.

Keywords: medical education; meditation; mindfulness; support group; wellness.

© The Author(s) 2020.