Programa de Entrenamiento en el Cultivo de la Compasión en los estudiantes de Medicina

Abstract

Physicians, residents and medical students experience higher levels of stress, depression and burnout than the general population. This mental deterioration determines a less compassionate care of patients. The proposals of the universities and hospitals to prevent this situation are scarce. For this reason, we decided to examine the efficacy of a Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) program in preventing psychological distress and increasing well-being in a sample of medical students from the Complutense University of Madrid. Participants were randomly distributed into two groups: receiving CCT and waitlist list control. Both groups completed online surveys before the intervention, at the end of it and two months after its completion. The variables studied were compassion, empathy, psychological distress, well-being, mindfulness, burnout, resilience, emotional regulation, and concern about COVID-19. Those who received the CCT program had significant improvements in self-compassion, mindfulness, and emotional regulation and experienced a significant reduction in anxiety, stress, and emotional exhaustion. Some of these effects persisted at two-month follow-up. The CCT seems to be an adequate intervention to take care of the mental health of medical students and favor compassionate care of patients.