Introduction:  It is widely recognized that medical students experience a high level of ‘burnout’or stress well before they have finished their medical placement (Lindsey et al). Medical students are aware that to maintain the pace demanded of them they have to rationalise early symptoms of stress in both body and mind. The purpose of this study is to introduce body awareness and exploration of the mind/body relationship into a self-care training module and to assess its acceptability and effectiveness.

Methods: A wellness day involving presentations and activities presented by GPs and psychologists was run on three consecutive years for final year medical students. Topics and activities covered included mind awareness, and body awareness through discussion, massage and relaxation. Student feedback was investigated immediately post the wellness day to determine which topic or activity they most highly valued or rated. Feedback during internship is being sought.  

Results: More than 140 final year medical students completed the wellness day over the 3 years.  Results indicated that the two highest rated activities were Massage and Relaxation Exercises.

Conclusion: These results suggest that body awareness, physical touch and physical relaxation are important characteristics of self-care. It is hoped that having a holistic approach better encourages students to engage in self care. The positive results indicate that further investigation would be beneficial.

References:

Lindsey Enoch, John T Chibnall, Debra L Schindler, Stuart J Slavin^.. Association of medical student burnout with residency specialty choice. Medical Education

Volume 47, Issue 2, pages 173–181, February 2013