For Immediate Release
Contact: Abena Foreman-Trice
(434) 243-2734
U.VA. HEALTH SYSTEM OFFERS ONE-OF-A-KIND COURSE TO DOCTORS
For physicians, seeing patients, engaging in research and educating tomorrow’s doctors can add up to more than just a fulfilling career—it also can lead to stress. However, when physicians need a time out, they often do not know how to come “off the playing field.” That is why the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Virginia Health System is offering physicians the chance to find balance and self-awareness through a new stress reduction class created by physicians for physicians. With a curriculum based on the mindfulness approach to stress management, the class is the first of its kind to be offered at an academic research institution on the East Coast. The Mindfulness for Physicians class will be held Monday evenings from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. beginning Nov. 1 through Dec. 20.
Dr. Matthew Goodman and Dr. John Schorling, both physicians at the University of Virginia Health System, are well aware of the difficulties that physicians face in trying to balance work and family. They created the mindfulness class to help physicians learn skills to better manage their lives and their demanding careers.
“Burnout is common among physicians and results from the nature of the work and our own perfectionist tendencies. We hope to enhance physician self-awareness and emphasize the meaningfulness of working in medicine as antidotes to burnout,” said Goodman.
Classes include instruction in various meditation techniques and basic yoga as well as discussions to encourage wellness, relieve stress, and potentially to help doctorsenhance their relationships with patients.
“It is important to approach patients with compassion, yet we also need to have self-compassion and not take on patients’ problems personally. Mindfulness helps with this balance,” adds Schorling.
The concept of “mindfulness-based stress reduction” was created by Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder and former executive director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society and professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Kabat-Zinn teaches that when faced with a stressful moment, a person can slow down just enough to reflect on their behavior and examine why they are feeling stressed out about a situation that they can not control. The brief retreat can help individuals become calmer by allowing them to “be in the moment” and discover better ways to deal with life’s stresses.
U.Va.’s Department of Family Medicine believes their course goes beyond Kabat-Zinn’s work by offering help to doctors in ways that are unique and compelling. “No one else is currently teaching the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction to enhance physician self-awareness and applying it to improve communication between doctors and their patients,” said Dr. Sim Galazka, chairman of the Department of Family Medicine.
The Continuing Medical Education Committee has approved the course and physicians taking the course can receive 20 hours of AMA Category 1 credit. To cover this, please contact Abena Foreman-Trice in the Public Relations Office at (434) 243-2734.
###
October 14, 2004