Can mindful doctors take better care of their patients? How mindfulness can benefit medical care beyond serving as a clinical intervention for patients

Abstract

The potential of mindfulness as a clinical intervention is increasinglyrecognized, yet less attention has been paid to how mindfulnesscan contribute to medical care when cultivated by physicians.This paper examines how mindfulness in practitioners can alleviatethree problems arising in contemporary medical care. Firstly,mindfulness could prevent flaws resulting from mindless medicalpractice by allowing practitioners to become more aware of theirpatients and their own cognitions. Secondly, mindfulness can alleviatethe problem of chronic stress and burnout in medical practitioners,thereby enhancing their care of patients. Finally, mindfulnesscan contribute to improving patient-practitioner-relationshipswhich often suffer in contemporary healthcare. In sum, mindfulnessin practitioners holds great potential for medical care; hence mindfulness-programs for physicians should be implemented.