Using Mindfulness to Address Physician and Student Burnout

For a medical student, the journey to become a physician can be challenging.

Nearly half of U.S. medical students report experiencing burnout, according to an American Medical Association (AMA) Council on Medical Education report,

Setu Shiroya, MS-2 at the  Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University, is aware of how much of a toll it can take.

“As medical students we face a lot of stressors in our daily life.”, said Shiroya, who serves as the President of the Mindfulness and Meditation Student Interest Group at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.

To help address the problem of burnout with students and physicians, Burnett School of Medicine at TCU welcomed Holly Rogers, M.D., to Arnold Hall to hear about her mindfulness practice tips for stress and burnout.

It was part of the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Physician Communications and Medical Humanities Speaker Series.

“Dr. Rogers provides clear and relatable steps for staying grounded, managing stress and building resilience,” said Heather Hale Nguyen, M.S., Director of Humanities and Communication at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.  “Her methods are efficient, relatable and manageable for students who are strapped for time.”

Rogers is a psychiatrist and co-founder of the Mindfulness Institute for Emerging Adults, an agency dedicated to developing and delivering mindfulness programs for young adults.  She was introduced to mindfulness practices after she finished her residency and was dealing with a lot of stress.

“I really felt transformed in really important ways,” said Rogers who is the author of the book, “The Mindful Twenty-Something.”  “I was much less anxious, I was much better at listening, I was much less likely to waste my time worrying.”

Meditation is often associated with mindfulness, but Rogers says there are many other techniques to practice mindfulness including walking, swimming, running or counting your breath.

Rogers had the group practice breathing techniques to get an understanding of how it works.

Her hope is that future physicians will take these skills and find that it helps them be better doctors.

Shiroya said he will apply these tips going forward:  “Being able to step back, gives you space to think. When you can think, that’s when you can start understanding your patients and how you can be compassionate and empathetic.”