New Workshop Helps Doctors Avoid Burnout, Increase Wellbeing

Article Content

Steven Hickman, PsyD, director, UCSD Center for Mindfulness

On Saturday, May 11, the Center for Mindfulness at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine is hosting a workshop to help physicians and clinicians increase job satisfaction and prevent burnout. The program will show participants how to incorporate the concept of mindfulness into their daily clinical practice with the long-term goal of enhancing patient-centered care and physician well-being through compassionate communication.

“This is a unique opportunity for clinicians to learn to take better care of themselves and their patients through attentive and mindful interactions in every moment,” said Steven Hickman, PsyD, director, UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. “Practicing medicine mindfully can increase a clinician’s sense of well-being and the ability to empathize with each patient they encounter. This may result in fewer medical errors, greater self-awareness, and the ability to see a situation from multiple perspectives before reacting.”

The day-long course is designed to introduce participants to the components of mindfulness practice, how awareness of interpersonal communication can improve office dynamics, and how to avoid mental and physical burnout. Experiential exercises will help attendees better respond to the suffering of patients by exploring common reactions to chronic illness and pain and an analysis of personal reactions to it.

“This course is ideal for physicians who feel stressed or compassion fatigued or who think they are headed there. Embracing these techniques can bring joy back into the practice of medicine,” said Adele Josepho, MD, psychiatrist and UCSD Center For Mindfulness instructor. “Each time a physician opens a door to see a patient, she or he needs to be fully aware and present and to focus solely on the patient’s needs. This course can help doctors get back in touch with these skills.”

Offered on the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla, the interactive workshop is led by Mick Krasner, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He has taught mindfulness to patients, medical students, and health professionals for more than 10 years. Krasner is engaged in a variety of research projects including the investigation of the effects of mindfulness practices on the immune system in the elderly, on chronic psoriasis, and on medical student well-being.

General registration before April 11 is $200. Discounts are available to students, UC San Diego Health Sciences residents and faculty, and members of the San Diego County Medical Society. Lunch and parking are included in the fees. Six hours of medical education credits are offered with the American Psychological Association, California Board of Behavioral Sciences, and the California Board of Registered Nursing. The course is from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on the UC San Diego campus at the Medical Education and Telemedicine (MET) Building.

Mindfulness is most often formally taught in the west through the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts. The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness has offered MBSR programs to the general public for over 12 years. These classes are open to anyone who might be seeking to reduce stress, facilitate well-being or contend with distress, pain or illness, and are offered throughout the year. More information can be found at http://mindfulness.ucsd.edu

To learn more or to register for this conference, call 858-334-4636 or visit: http://cme.ucsd.edu/mindfulness/mcp_workshop_051113_home.html