Beyond communication training: The MaRIS model for developing medical students’ human capabilities and personal resilience

Abstract

Purpose: Human capabilities in medicine, including communication skills, are increasingly important within the complex, challenging and dynamic landscape of healthcare. Supporting medical students to manage unavoidable role-related stressors adaptively may help mitigate the anguish that is too commonly reported among the profession. We developed a model, “MaRIS”, underpinned by contemplative pedagogy, to support medical students to enhance their human capabilities, across all three domains of Bloom's taxonomy, and their personal resilience. It is the first to integrate Mindfulness, affective Reflection, Impactive experiences and a Supportive environment into medical curriculum design. Here, we describe the theoretical basis underpinning MaRIS and present a preliminary study to evaluate its impact on students' subjectively-rated capabilities. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire capturing self-ratings of competence, empathy and resilience, as well as impressions of their experiences, was administered to foundation year medical students before (T0), during (T1) and after delivery (T2). Results: Fifty-five students completed the survey at all time points. Mean scores for all domains increased significantly from T0 to T1 and from T0 to T2. Free-text comments suggest learning impact across the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. Conclusions: MaRIS appears to facilitate medical students' establishment of the foundations for building the human capabilities and personal resilience required for professional practice.