Publication of the week: Dr Jasmine Hearn

Daya, Z., & Hearn, J. H. Mindfulness interventions in medical education: A systematic review of their impact on medical student stress, depression, fatigue and burnout. Medical Teacher (2017), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2017.1394999

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have gained popularity across higher education, and in particular, health education. However, there has been no evaluation of studies exploring mindfulness for medical students. A review was conducted to determine the effectiveness of MBIs for reducing psychological distress in undergraduate medical students. A total of twelve articles were reviewed, with study quality ranging from weak to strong.

Key findings:

• There remains mixed evidence for the use of mindfulness for medical student distress.
• There exists little evidence surrounding the benefits of mindfulness for burnout and fatigue.
• No studies specifically focused on the effects of mindfulness on fatigue.
• Half of the studies included predominantly female samples. This may skew results due to gender-specific emotional regulation and responses to mindfulness training. Females are more likely to express preferences for mindfulness interventions and report reductions in distress following participation in one.

Future work is required to clarify the utility of mindfulness in higher education.

Read more on the publisher’s website: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0142159X.2017.1394999

Zahra Daya is a medical student at The University of Buckingham Medical School and completed this work as part of her study.

Dr Jasmine Hearn teaches Psychology at The University of Buckingham Medical School. Her research interests include chronic pain, particularly after spinal cord injury, and the applications of mindfulness for those with chronic pain, as well as for the well-being of students.