Medicine values student well-being and is committed to developing programs to support self care and stress management strategies.
A randomised controlled trial was undertaken in 2009 to determine whether mindfulness practice could reduce the stress of senior medical students at the University of Tasmania.
The intervention was an audio CD of guided mindfulness practice designed and produced for the trial.
The results found use of the intervention significantly reduced stress and anxiety in medical students.
The results of this study were published in the April edition of Medical Education:
Warnecke, E., Quinn, S., Ogden, K., Towle, N., & Nelson, M. R. (2011). A randomised controlled trial of the effects of mindfulness practice on medical student stress levels. Medical Education, 45(4), 381-388.
The Medical Editor of Medical Education interviewed Dr Emma Warnecke about the trial and its implications.
The podcast is available to listen to with iTunes.
Relaxation and Guided Mindfulness sessions for self care and stress management
- Introduction - 5 minutes
- Relaxation - guided relaxation with no background sounds - 30 minutes
- Relaxation - guided relaxation with background ocean sounds - 30 minutes
- Mindfulness - Breath awareness - 25 minutes
- Mindfulness - Advanced practice of breath awareness - 30 minutes
- Beach sounds for relaxation - 30 minutes
- Relaxation - brief guided relaxation - 5 mins
Notice
- These recordings have been produced for medical students to help the listener establish strategies to assist in coping with stress and to aid in relaxation.
- Only listen to these recordings in an environment where it is safe for you to relax with your eyes closed and do not listen to the recordings whilst driving or operating machinery.
- These recordings are not a treatment and the listener should seek medical advice where they feel they cannot easily manage their stress or anxiety.
These recordings are only to be used for personal use and dissemination and distribution beyond this is not authorised.
