EDUCATION RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
FRIDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Shah K, Wong G, Saunders P, Harazduk N, Haramati A.
Comparison of medical and graduate students' perceptions
of their stress and mindful awareness following a mind-body skills course.
Georgetown University School of Medicine haramati@georgetown.edu
PURPOSE: This study compares the self-reported
perceived stress and mindfulness awareness of 28 Physiology masters
degree students in a complementary and alternative medicine program
(CAM-MS) and 111 first and second year medical students (MEDS) at
before and after an eleven-week Mind-Body Medicine Skills (MBS) course.
METHODS: The MEDS were self-selected and screened
by the course directors through a written essay in which the students
described their interest in participating in the course. In contrast,
the CAM-MS students were all required to take the course as part of
their curricular requisites. An informal survey indicated that not all
members of the CAM-MS group would have enrolled in the course had it
been offered as an option. The students met each week, in groups of
10 with two faculty facilitators, for a two-hour group session in which
they were introduced to various mind-body techniques: drawing, autogenic
training, eating and walking meditations, several guided imageries,
breathing, movement, and writing exercises. Two instruments were used
to assess the students' psychological and attitudinal states before
and after the Mind-Body Skills course: the ten-item Perceived Stress
Scale (PSS)(J Health Soc Behav 24:385-396, 1983) and the fifteen-item
Mindful Awareness Attention Scale (MAAS)(J Pers Soc Psychol.84:822-48.
2003),.
RESULTS: Baseline scores on the MAAS were significantly
lower (P<0.01) in MEDS (pre-mean 54.8; std. dev. 11.4) compared to CAM-MS
students (pre-mean 61.8; std. dev. 11.4) prior to participating in the
MBS course, but the PSS scores were not significantly different between
the two student groups (pre-mean 16.3; std. dev. 6.4 versus pre-mean
14.2; std. dev. 6.2). Following the course, the MAAS scores were still
significantly lower in the MEDS students (P<0.05), but there was no
statistical difference between the student groups in the PSS scores.
Both groups of students exhibited significant increases in MAAS scores
(P<0.05 in the CAM-MS group and P<0.001 in the MEDS), and decreases
in the PSS scores (P<0.05 in the CAM-MS group and P<0.001 in the MEDS).
These changes represent a significant reduction of perceived stress
and an increase in mindfulness awareness in both student groups.
CONCLUSION: Our findings support the notion
that the Mind-Body Medicine Skills course can foster student self-awareness
and self-care by enhancing their mindfulness awareness and reducing
their perceived stress, even in graduate students required to take the
course.
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