Dr Lück

Recent complaints from junior doctors about long hours and allegations of harassment in the workplace have put the spotlight on burnout and stress in the medical fraternity. While research shows that burnout can lead to decreased quality of care, lack of empathy and patient dissatisfaction, clinicians are seldom trained to manage the strains of their job.

FHS alumnus Dr Patricia Lück, and Dr Mick Krasner Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, recently presented a lecture on mindfulness practice to tackle this issue. Dr Lück, a palliative care physician and independent mindfulness medical educator is also teaching faculty in the Mindful Practice program at the University of Rochester Medical School, New York. Titled Mindful Practice: Mindfulness in Medicine Building Resiliency and Preventing Burnout, the lecture focused mainly on attentiveness.

Moment-to-moment attentiveness, critical curiosity, approaching challenges with a beginner’s mind and presence are the building blocks of mindful practice. Using an array of mindfulness techniques clinicians can, over time, build resilience that will improve their well-being and in turn, patient care.  

Dr Lück opened the talk with exercises that engaged the audience’s muscles of attentiveness. Using art and photographs she showed how observation and attention to detail could improve one’s perspective and knowledge of an event or issue.

Stating that curiosity is trained out of us Dr Krasner impressed the value of cultivating critical curiosity. Taking a real interest in patients, getting to the depth of their emotions and suffering through exploratory questions improves understanding while expressing compassion.

Another simple yet effective mindful technique is to STOP, an acronym for: Stop; Take a breath, Observe and Perceive. This is particularly useful in the moments between seeing patients, said Dr Lück. It allows clinicians to regroup and turn their thoughts to the needs of the patient. In moments of pressure or conflict the pause presents an opportunity to think clearly about what to do next.

Dr Lück drove this point home by quoting Victor Frankl who said; “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Besides paying attention, being inquisitive and self-aware, the mindful clinician has a clear sense of what contitutes meaningful work; purpose, satisfaction and fulfilling activity. He or she also takes care to replenish the mind and body through excercise, good diet, fun and mentorship. The mindful practitioner then, is one who takes care of him or herself well enough, to be able to take care of others.