It was 6:40 in the morning and nearly all of the doctors attending the medical conference had assembled for the first session of the day. But there were no tables and chairs in sight, no lectern, no run-throughs of PowerPoint presentations. All I could make out in the early morning darkness were the unmoving forms of my colleagues, cross-legged on cushions and raised platforms, eyes closed and hands resting with palms upward in their laps.
They were learning to meditate as part of a mindful communication training conference, held last week at the Chapin Mill Retreat Center in western New York, and sponsored by the University of Rochester Medical Center.
There has been a growing awareness among doctors that being mindful, or fully present and attentive to the moment, not only improves the way they engage with patients but also mitigates the stresses of clinical practice.
Mounting paperwork demands and other time and productivity pressures can lead to physician burnout, which affects as many as one in three doctors, recent studies have shown. The loss of enthusiasm and engagement that results can lead to increased errors, decreased empathy and compassion toward patients and poor professionalism. Other problems include physician substance abuse, abandonment of clinical practice and even suicide.
Despite the pervasiveness of burnout, few interventions have been shown to be effective. But two years ago, University of Rochester researchers studied the effects of a yearlong course for practicing primary care physicians in mindful communication. Their findings, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that doctors who took part in the course became more present, attentive and focused on the moment and less emotionally exhausted over time. Moreover, the doctors’ ability to empathize with patients and understand how patients’ family and work life or social situation could influence their illness increased and persisted even after the course had ended.
“Mindful communication is one way for practitioners to feel more ‘in the game’ and to find meaning in their practice,” said Dr. Michael S. Krasner, an associate professor of clinical medicine at Rochester and one of the study authors. He, along with his co-author Dr. Ronald Epstein, a professor of family medicine, psychiatry and oncology at Rochester, developed the course in mindfulness.
But it takes training, and that training can be particularly challenging for physicians who are used to denying their personal responses to difficult situations. In addition to learning to meditate, doctors participate in group discussions and writing and listening exercises on topics like medical errors, managing conflict, setting boundaries and self-care. Small group discussions are meant to increase awareness of how one’s emotions or physical sensations influence behaviors and decisions.
In one exercise, for example, doctors are asked to write about a mistake in their professional or personal life. Examples of such errors have included missing a diagnosis, prescribing the wrong medication, making assumptions about a patient that led to inadequate care or failing to be present for their own families because of an inability to balance work and family life. The doctors must then discuss the issue with two peers, describing not only the event but also any associated physical and emotional sensations. One of the other doctors has the task of practicing appreciative inquiry, or listening without making judgments or jumping to conclusions. And the other serves as an observer, offering suggestions at the end of the session for how the listener might improve his or her skills.
Many of the participants at last week’s conference, capped by the organizers at 40 and coming from the United States and Canada and from as far away as New Zealand, described the four-day experience as “transformative.” “I can honestly say that these have been some of the most important days of my life,” said Dr. Elissa Rubin, a pediatrician and lactation consultant who traveled to the conference from Mineola, N.Y., on Long Island.
But the real challenge for these participants — and the growing number of advocates of such training — is not acquiring mindfulness. It is finding the time and support necessary to sustain their skills and teach others.
Once back in their work environments, many say it is easy to fall back into old patterns. Dr. Krasner and Dr. Epstein have had to close down some of their programs directed at interns and residents because of financial issues. And a frequent topic of conversation among several of last week’s participants who hoped to teach at their own institutions were how to best introduce these ideas to colleagues who might be skeptical or administrators who might be hesitant to set aside valuable clinical time for training courses or pay for a program that does not generate revenue.
Nonetheless, Dr. Krasner and Dr. Epstein remain optimistic, in large part because they believe that mindful communication is not just another optional skill or fringe fad in health care. “Mindfulness,” Dr. Epstein said, “and the self-awareness it cultivates, is a fundamental ingredient of excellent care.”
Their patients would agree. In clinic, a patient who has suffered for years from chronic pain told me why he remained Dr. Epstein’s patient. “He’s the best doctor I’ve ever had because he can get to what I am trying to say quicker than any other doctor.
“I’m not sure how he does it, but he just really gets it.”
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