Adult Development in Health Professions Education: The Need for Self‐Care

Abstract

We live in a complex world, and complicated and changing health-care context. Within this context, health-care providers and health professions educators need to be able to provide quality health care and education, as well as to tend to their own health and self-care as they deal with life events and transitions in their ongoing development. Some examples of a composite of issues that health professions educators face at different life stages are represented in the following fictional case stories.Marcy is a nurse educator in her early fifties. She is a 3-year colon cancer survivor and a tenured professor of nursing, a single mom of young adult children. Her bout with colon cancer has taught her that she needs to take care of herself, while balancing the increasing demands of student needs and faculty load in higher education, a changing health-care system, and family responsibilities.Raj is a physician and clinical educator in his early sixties originally from India living in the United States. He is the head of the pulmonary care division at a teaching hospital, and is responsible for clinical teaching of residents, and medical students. He is concerned about the level of stress he sees among healthcare providers, and while he is nearing retirement age, he wants to continue educating and contributing to health and wellness of health-care providers for the remainder of his career and beyond.Marina is a practicing respiratory therapist in her mid-thirties and the mother of twin toddlers who teaches part time in a respiratory therapy program. Marina had suffered and dealt with the realities of compassion fatigue, and is passionate about educating respiratory therapists about how to be good clinicians as well as to take care of themselves.

Moving to Learn: A Meditative Yoga Approach to Teaching and Learning Anatomy and Physiology in Multiple Contexts

“…Discuss the implications of heart rate variability and encourage students to engage in heart rhythm meditation. Resources for learning and teaching this type of meditation include Bair and Bair's () book Living From the Heart and Tisdell and Palmer's () article. Respiratory System . Guide the class through breathing exercises such as “nadi breathing” to emphasize the upper respiratory tract or “breath of fire” to highlight the lower respiratory tract. Digestive System .…”