The impact of mindfulness on burnout and mental health in physicians, physician assistants, and trainees

Abstract

Physicians, Physician assistants (PAs), and trainees are at significantly increased risk for developing mental health disorders and burnout when compared to the general population. Mental health disorders and burnout can result in significant consequences, not only for the individual, but also for their patients, and the healthcare system. Mindfulness practices have been evaluated as a potential solution to mental health deterioration in this population and have shown promising results. Time commitment is a barrier to practice; however, mindfulness courses are being adapted to suit the demanding schedules of healthcare professionals and trainees, and outcomes of these adaptions appear favorable. Research on PAs and PA trainees is extremely limited; however, PAs are trained using the medical model, and therefore data on physicians and medical trainees can likely be extrapolated to PAs and PA trainees (Johnson et al., 2020a). Although this article focuses on physicians and PAs it also may shed some light on experiences and the potential value of mindfulness for all health professionals.