Meditation in Medicine

Image credit: Pexels

Author: Puja Gopal, MD
University of Illinois College of Medicine

This post was peer reviewed.
Click to learn more.

Recently when watching the evening news, I came across an interesting segment focusing on how teaching meditation in middle and high schools in San Francisco has led to many positive measurable changes. School officials have noted better attendance, better academic performance, and at least a 75 percent decrease in suspensions over a period of four years.

Meditation and relaxation techniques have garnered a lot of attention lately and have become the focus of much research. A brief literature overview on the potential impact meditation can have, especially in the field of emergency medicine, follows below. For emergency physicians, who operate in high-stress environments; attend to multiple tasks, often simultaneously; and must manage 'the busy pit', overall wellness becomes especially important. Wellness is reflected in one's even mindedness and control during high stress situations such as coding patients; one’s focus and concentration during shifts of high volume; and one’s resiliency, especially after bad outcomes. Stress reduction techniques are thus essential to maintain wellness and happiness and avoid burn-out.

Building Resilience Through Food

Image Source: Pexels

Author: Madhu Hardasmalani, MD FAAEM
AAEM Physician Wellness and Burnout Prevention Committee
Originally Published: Common Sense November/December 2017

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from an adverse life situation. Some individuals are born with this trait and we are all envious. However, the majority of us need a little help. Even those individuals with the inborn resilience trait, need help maintaining it.

Now having and maintaining this trait is not very simple — there is no magic “resilience pill.” The key is lifestyle changes, which may initially be a bit daunting, but can better equip us to meet life’s challenges head on without breaking down.

Balance

Image Credit: Pixabay

Author: Thomas Hull, MSIV
Medical Student
Loyola University Chicago SSOM
AAEM/RSA Social Media Committee

This post was peer reviewed.
Click to learn more.

The eyes do not see what the mind does not know,” a common saying many of us have come to hear in medicine. A simple and powerful aphorism illustrating the fundamental connection between awareness and intelligence; it urges us to keep reading and expanding our education. The connection between study and clinical success may seem obvious, and even elementary, but one cannot dismiss it as reductive. A deeper proverb is speaking here about the connection between mind-body, or more specifically, consciousness and well-being. We all know the feeling after a long day, with energy running low and emotional barriers wearing thin, of being “brain-dead.” The medical community has been forced to deal with this in recent decades, most prominently and publicly with residency duty restrictions. Now this November with conclusions by the Accreditation Council on General Medical Education (ACGME) task force that 24-hour call (with 4 additional hours allowed for transition) for first-year residents does not affect patient care,[1] it’s even more relevant. Their recommendation has found support in the idea that increasing number of handoffs and transitions of care could result in an actual rise in medical errors. A 24-hour shift may also be desirable to some, as one long shift with a day off after may seem better than to two rigorous 16-hour shifts abutted. Though the ACGME has requested public discourse on this topic before making its official 2017-2018 recommendations on December 19th, it’s likely these changes will take affect and highlights the importance of maintaining healthy balance heading into residency. After all, these hours are already the standard for PGY2 and beyond, thus it’s only a matter of time.

Meditation in Medicine

Photo Credit: “Meditation” by Sebastian Wiertz:
https://flic.kr/p/aht7Wt.

Author: Puja Gopal, MSIV
University of Illinois College of Medicine

Recently when watching the evening news, I came across an interesting segment focusing on how teaching meditation in middle and high schools in San Francisco has led to many positive measurable changes. School officials have noted better attendance, better academic performance, and at least a 75 percent decrease in suspensions over a period of four years.

This post was peer reviewed.
Click to learn more.

Meditation and relaxation techniques have garnered a lot of attention lately and have become the focus of much research. A brief literature overview on the potential impact meditation can have, especially in the field of emergency medicine, follows below. For emergency physicians, who operate in high-stress environments; attend to multiple tasks, often simultaneously; and must manage 'the busy pit', overall wellness becomes especially important. Wellness is reflected in one's even mindedness and control during high stress situations such as coding patients; one’s focus and concentration during shifts of high volume; and one’s resiliency, especially after bad outcomes. Stress reduction techniques are thus essential to maintain wellness and happiness and avoid burn-out.