Since 2019, the School of Medicine at NUI Galway has offered the programme of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, MBSR to medical students. Dr Eva Flynn from the Discipline of General Practice will be delivering the next programme of MBSR from September 2020 within the School of Medicine.    

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction was developed by Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn at the Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. This is now widely accepted as a useful programme to help bring mindfulness into daily life, with the main purpose of reducing stress and promoting wellbeing. This programme is aimed at the wellbeing of medical students, to learn to deal with stress in helpful ways and, in turn, may improve academic performance. The COVID emergency has created considerable change and uncertainly and this MBSR programme will offer guidance and build skills on dealing with stress, thoughts, patterns and common automatic unhelpful reactions. The 8 weeks programme consists of a weekly session of two and a half hours in duration and will take place on a week day evening. The will also be a one day retreat within the 8 weeks programme. 

Individuals that complete the MBSR programme report lasting benefits. This includes enabling participants to see things differently, deal with mental and physical tension and increase confidence and resilience. Here are some of the responses from the students that too 

"over the past 8 weeks I’ve grown to be kind to myself and enjoy my own company   

I feel like it has truly been a great addition to my life and definitely contributing to betterment of my mental state especially during stressful times"

This programme is being offered to all years within the School of Medicine, with a limited intake of 15 students. There is no fee for this programme, but it will require commitment to attend the weekly and one day retreat. If you are interested in this programme and wish to see if it is suitable for you please contact Dr Eva Flynn at eva.flynn@nuigalway.ie