The Mindful Medical Student

Four years in medical school are not only demanding and competitive in a strictly academic sense, but they may bring students face-to-face with perfectionism, anxiety, obsessions, power plays, difficult patients, ethical dilemmas, identity crises, sleep deprivation, financial strain, and—perhaps for the first time in their lives—confrontations with disease, suffering, and death. The Mindful Medical Student will broaden readers’ perspectives and cultivate their ability to respond to the extreme emotional, psychological, and spiritual challenges posed by medical school and, eventually, a medical career. Jeremy Spiegel, MD, tackled these issues head on, prevailed, and became a first-rate psychiatrist. Now, in a vital book, he shares what he has learned.