The Effect of an MBSR Course on Medical Trainee and Medical Academic Faculty Stress and Burnout

Overview

The study team is seeking to evaluate the efficacy of the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course at reducing stress and burnout. This will be done through the collection of brief anonymous online surveys (the Perceived Stress Scale and the Mini Z) before the MBSR course and at 2 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months following the end of the course. Participation is completely voluntary and will not affect anyone's ability to take this course, and the course instructors will have no knowledge of who has or has not participated in the study.

The study is a pre- and post- survey design with the 8-week MBSR course as the intervention. MBSR is an evidence-based curriculum with a greater than 40-year history, that has been taught at Mount Sinai since 2018. Study participants will be those who have voluntarily signed up to take the course in response to an email describing the course that was sent by the office of the Mount Sinai Graduate Medical Education (GME). The study participants will be separated into two groups: faculty and trainees, and the study will span approximately two weeks prior to the start of the course (9/13/2023) (the "pre-" period) and six months after the completion of the course 5/31/2024) (the "post-" period). The course will be delivered by Zoom, but the participants will be joining from all Mount Sinai locations. The MBSR course itself involves didactics (i.e., stress physiology, review of mindfulness research, mindful communication practices), group discussions based on individual experiences with the mindful practices taught in the course, and the teaching of meditation practices including sitting and moving meditation practices. Home practices are offered as guidance each week but are not required. There is no planned control group at this time.