Twelve tips for mindful teaching and learning in medical education

Abstract

Mindfulness practice has been shown to have many positive benefits for patients, clinicians, and trainees. Mindfulness fosters compassion, connection, and enhanced clinical reasoning and can reduce burnout among clinicians. A primary focus of mindfulness is present-moment awareness and may be achieved through openness, curiosity, perspective-taking, and letting go of judgment. We propose that the core principles of mindfulness can be harnessed by educators to enhance their teaching skills specifically around creating a supportive and safe learning environment, using questions effectively, providing feedback, and serving as role models. Mindful teaching promotes mindful learning, which focuses on context, openness to new possibilities, reflection, and critical thinking, as opposed to rote repetition and memorization. This article describes core mindfulness principles and strategies that can be used to become a more mindful teacher.

Keywords:

• Teaching and learning
• medicine
• roles of teacher

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Drs. Janet Serwint and Neda Gould for their mindful review of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Ryznar

Elizabeth Ryznar, MD, MSc, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Rachel B. Levine

Rachel B. Levine, MD, MPH, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.