Enhancing Familiarity and Utility: A Pre–Post Survey Study on Mental Practice Workshop Outcomes

Abstract

OBJECTIVES Mental practice, a cognitive technique for practicing skills without physical movement, holds promise for enhancing clinical outcomes in emergency medicine. This study investigates its recognition and the impact of a basic workshop on emergency physicians’ attitudes toward mental practice. METHODS This pre–post survey study involved 20 medical professionals who participated in a 2-day workshop. Assessments were conducted before and after the intervention using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS Initial findings revealed that 65% of participants were aware of mental practice, and only 10% utilized it in clinical settings. Postworkshop, familiarity, and perceived helpfulness significantly increased from 2.2 to 4.1 and 3.9 to 4.7, respectively, with marked improvements in confidence and the intention to apply these techniques clinically by 100% of the participants. CONCLUSION The results suggest that brief educational interventions can substantially influence medical professionals’ engagement with mental practice, advocating its inclusion in medical training curricula to enhance procedural skills and patient care.