Psychological Skills for Wellness – Description

Being a student in medical school can be stressful. Research shows that about half of medical students are vulnerable to experiencing burnout during training, and up to a third may experience clinically significant signs of depression. So if you are feeling overwhelmed, cynical, exhausted, and unmotivated at times, you are not alone. The Forth Valley Medical Education Dept. wants to help you become the most skilled and compassionate doctor you can be. This session is designed to address concerns specific to medical students and to provide support around common emotional experiences.

How?

We will draw on the psychological theory and evidence based techniques from Compassionate Mind Training to explore wellness in the context of medical training. The format is a face-to-face group, which includes interactive and experiential methods. Participation is choice-based and voluntary; there is no expectation to contribute in a particular way.

Who?

The session is delivered by the Psychologist who is based in the Medical Education Dept. Approx. 8-10 participants per session.

Where?

Students will be contacted by email with a specific date, time (AM/PM), and location (Medical Education/Learning Centre). Lasts approx. 1hr. 45 mins. Please bring your lunch if the session falls over this period.

Why?

Feedback from an FY1 who participated in this training said: “Psychological robustness is a key skill to have in order to fulfil my potential [as a doctor] and for my future career. I feel I can really take these techniques forward today into the future to enhance my wellbeing and effectively manage stress”. The majority of last year’s participants (92%) rated the quality of teaching as ‘excellent’. Clarity of learning objectives, relevance to role and enjoyment were also highly rated. The session was frequently described as ‘useful’.