SELF-C ARE FOR MEDIC AL STUDENTS
Using mind-body medicine for self-awareness and self-care in medical school Scott Karpowicz Third year medical student, Mind–body Medicine Group participant
Nancy Harazduk Director, Mind–body Medicine Program, Georgetown University School of Medicine
Aviad Haramati Professor of Physiology and Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine
Participating in the mind–body medicine programme has had a noticeable impact on my wellbeing throughout medical school, and I am convinced it will have a lasting effect on my career as a physician.The programme goes far beyond mere stress management – it has improved my self-awareness and listening skills, given me a stronger sense of compassion and empathy, and helped build a supportive community within the medical school. I look forward to taking the skills and experiences gained from this programme into the realm of daily patient care. Scott Karpowicz For the past eight years my passion has been to create a culture that embodies compassion, respect, self-reflection, and authentic collegial relationships among medical students and faculty. I envision a culture that encourages collaboration rather than competition, support rather than judgment, and connection rather than isolation. We have begun this journey with our mind–body medicine programme.And what a remarkable journey it is, as students, faculty and administrators work together toward a more balanced, effective and humanistic model of medical education. Nancy Harazduk My career as a renal physiologist – with a 20-year research focus on fluid and electrolyte homeostasis – took a distinct, non-conventional turn nine years ago, when we embarked on an educational initiative at Georgetown University to incorporate CAM and integrative medicine, especially mind–body medicine skills, into the medical curriculum. Along the way, I learned quite a bit about education and health. I also learned about authenticity, relationships and non-judgment, and now expend significant effort to rethink the way we train physicians. It continues to be quite the adventure! Aviad Haramati
Introduction
Summary An innovative educational program at Georgetown University School of Medicine teaches mind–body medicine skills to blend science and humanism to foster student and faculty self-awareness and self-care.
© Journal of holistic healthcare
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Volume 6 Issue 2 Aug 2009
For many medical students, medical school proves to be an extremely stressful time. A challenging and time-intensive curriculum, increasing student debt, exposure to death and suffering, student abuse, and sleep deprivation are several of the stressors contributing to a difficult medical school environment. Existing literature consistently demonstrates that medical students exhibit significantly higher psychological distress relative to both the general population and to their peers.1 Such psychological distress has a variety of harmful consequences, including the development of substance abuse, other mental illnesses, a decrease in academic
performance, and a reduction in provider quality of patient care.2 Recent research demonstrates that medical student distress decreases empathy, a characteristic that correlates with clinical competence and whose development has been identified by the Association of American Medical Colleges as a key goal for graduation.3 Medical students also demonstrate greater levels of depression and anxiety than reported in the general population or age-matched peers.1 This fact takes on even greater significance when considering that psychosocial characteristics, including levels of depression, anxiety, and self-esteem, may in fact be better predictors of clinical competence than medical admissions test scores.4
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