title: Long-term benefits by a mind-body medicine skills course on perceived stress and empathy among medical and nursing students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A significant number of medical students suffer from burnout symptoms and reduced empathy. This controlled, quasi-experimental study aimed to investigate whether a mind-body medicine (MBM) skills course could reduce perceived stress and increase empathy and self-reflection in medical and nursing students.
  
  
  METHODS
  The MBM course (consisting of experiential sessions of mind-body techniques and group reflections) was piloted among Dutch medical students and Swedish nursing students. Main outcome variables were perceived stress (PSS), empathy (IRI subscales perspective taking, fantasy, empathic concern, and personal distress), and self-reflection (GRAS). Participating and control students completed questionnaires at baseline, post-intervention, at 6 and 12 months follow-up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-four medical and 47 nursing students participated in the course. Participating medical students showed significantly increased empathic concern [1.42 (95% CI 0.05, 2.78), p = 0.042], increased fantasy [3.24 (95% CI 1.58, 4.90), p < 0.001], and decreased personal distress [-1.73 (95% CI -3.04, -0.35), p = 0.010] compared to controls until 12 months follow-up. Participating nursing students showed significantly decreased levels of perceived stress [-5.09 (95% CI -8.37, -1.82), p = 0.002] and decreased personal distress [-5.01 (95% CI -6.97, -3.06), p < 0.001] compared to controls until 12 months follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrated long-term beneficial effects of the MBM course on perceived stress and empathy in medical and nursing students.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Healthcare and Nutrition , Louis Bolk Institute , Driebergen , the Netherlands.|b Department of Health Sciences , Mid Sweden University , Sundsvall , Sweden.
authors.forename: Marja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Vliet
authors.affiliation: c Department of Nursing Sciences , Mid Sweden University , Sundsvall , Sweden.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jong
authors.affiliation: a Department of Healthcare and Nutrition , Louis Bolk Institute , Driebergen , the Netherlands.|b Department of Health Sciences , Mid Sweden University , Sundsvall , Sweden.|d National Information and Knowledge Center Integrative Medicine (NIKIM) , Amsterdam , the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Miek C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Jong
mesh_terms: D002055:Burnout, Professional; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D026441:Mind-Body Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires