Introduction: Mindful medical practice

Abstract

Many medical schools and graduate school programs are teaching mindfulness in various ways, and this is gradually becoming accepted into mainstream Western medical settings. Yet, the inner working of the minds and hearts of practitioners is found in only a few qualitative studies with a small number of participants. In this preliminary chapter, mindfulness is defined; how it can be integrated into clinical work is described; and narrative medicine is introduced. It sets the stage for the clinical narratives and therapeutic insights that follow, chapter by chapter.