Compassion cultivation training promotes medical student wellness and enhanced clinical care

Abstract

Background Compassionate health care is associated with positive patient outcomes. Educational interventions for medical students that develop compassion may also increase wellness, decrease burnout, and improve provider-patient relationships. Research on compassion training in medical education is needed to determine how students learn and apply these skills. The authors evaluated an elective course for medical students modeled after the Compassion Cultivation Training course developed by the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. The elective goals were to strengthen student compassion, kindness, and wellness through compassion training and mindfulness meditation training modeled by a faculty instructor. The research objectives were to understand students’ applications and perceptions of this training. Methods Over three years, 45 students participated in the elective at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. The course administered a pre/post Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills that measured observing, describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgment. Qualitative analyses of self-reported experiences were used to assess students’ perceptions of compassion training and their application of skills learned through the elective. Results The mindfulness inventory showed significant improvements in observing ( t = 3.62, p = 0.005) and accepting without judgment skills ( t = 2.87, p = 0.017) for some elective cohorts. Qualitative data indicated that students across all cohorts found the elective rewarding, and they used mindfulness, meditation, and compassion skills broadly outside the course. Students described how the training helped them address major stressors associated with personal, academic, and clinical responsibilities. Students also reported that the skills strengthened interpersonal interactions, including with patients. Conclusions These outcomes illuminate students’ attitudes toward compassion training and suggest that among receptive students, a brief, student-focused intervention can be enthusiastically received and positively influence students’ compassion toward oneself and others. To underscore the importance of interpersonal and cognitive skills such as compassion and mindfulness, faculty should consider purposefully modeling these skills to students. Modeling compassion cultivation and mindfulness skills in the context of patient interactions may address student empathy erosion more directly than stress management training alone. This pilot study shows compassion training could be an attractive, efficient option to address burnout by simultaneously promoting student wellness and enhanced patient interactions.

Compassionate Engagement and Action in the Education for Health Care Professions: A Cross-Sectional Study at an Ecuadorian University

“…Regarding the training on compassionate care, the recent literature evidences a decreasing trend to include compassion in the training of health professionals [ 43 , 44 , 45 ] despite the stated benefits both for patients and for professionals [ 28 ]. Providing compassionate care is something to be learned and trained [ 46 , 47 , 48 ] and its inclusion in the curricula is the first step for its implementation in the clinical practice [ 19 , 20 ].…”

“…Exercising the Humanities makes the clinical setting value the history of suffering, meaning, and the need for the patient’s empathy and compassion [ 49 ]. This is the reason why we believe that it of utmost importance to cultivate a compassionate attitude in the Health Sciences student and to recover the true sense of service which humanizes the professional [ 11 , 13 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ].…”

“…The importance of including educational contents related to compassionate care in the studies related to Health Sciences has been widely recommended in the literature [ 28 , 29 , 30 ]. Contents related to compassionate attitudes have helped to develop a reflexive practice, deal with the clinical challenges, and gain confidence in the health professionals, such as nurses [ 25 ].…”

Spiritual leaders can retain nurses

“…Some nurse leaders may find it difficult to exercise these mindful practices, so it is important to note that mindfulness training can facilitate spiritual well‐being through structured training (Weingartner, Sawning, Shaw, & Klein, ). Mindfulness training is a teachable approach to improve well‐being, positively influence emotional reactions and cultivate compassion for oneself and for others (Weingartner et al, ). Mindful Self‐Compassion is a programme designed to teach self‐compassion to assist with challenging work relationships, manage burnout and handle difficult situations with emotional ease (Germer & Neff, ).…”

The Kind Care Bundle: A Curriculum to Teach Medical Students the Behaviors of Kind, Compassionate Care

“…Acts of kindness and empathy can be taught, 11 and compassion may improve both student wellness and clinical care. 12 In the face of a crisis of burnout among students 8 and physicians, 13 focusing on compassion may offer a way forward. 14 …”