Is There a Movement Towards the Acceptance of Mindfulness in Medical Education? An Audit of Mindfulness Activity in UK Medical Schools

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Within the UK, some medical schools have introduced secular mindfulness concepts to their students. However, knowledge of this development within academic medical institutions is largely anecdotal and not published. As such, this audit's objective was to assess the scope of 'Mindfulness Activities' (MA) across UK medical schools.In May 2018 a list of the current UK Medical Schools was retrieved from the Medical Schools Council website (MSC, 2018) and the Heads of Faculty of each of the 38 UK medical schools were contacted and invited to take part, by completing a short survey. MA were categorised into three types of activity; 'required', 'elective' and 'wellbeing'. 'Required' and 'elective' MA take place within curriculum time, whereas wellbeing MA was additional to the medical training. Based on this audit, nearly 80% (30/38) medical schools have some form of MA accessible to their students. This audit indicates that there is a relatively high level of MA within UK medical education. These findings, may indicate an acceptance of MT within the UK medical culture. More research is needed.