RP201: Mindfulness & Distraction

Session Readings






With this in mind, taking time to step back and reflect upon experiences in which your being distracted while caring for patients impacted the care you delivered is the key first step towards coping better when distracted and becoming more mindful in the future.



Reflect on a moment during your core clerkships in which your being distracted had an impact on the care you delivered to your patient. The distraction might be work-related (such as another clinical responsibility, a due assignment, being distracted by a physical impairment of your patient or their family member, etc.) or might be unrelated to your work (such as stressors related to personal or family relationships, among others). In your writing:

  4. Describe the insights you gained about yourself through reflecting on this experience. In thinking about that, also consider how your being aware of your own distractions affects how you react to patients who are distracted when you interact with them, especially in light of your knowledge that some of our patients have illnesses that cause them to be distracted such as TBI, PTSD, depression, etc.? When a patient is distracted while you are talking with them, might this be a diagnostic clue to an underlying diagnosis you are missing?
  5. How do you think your reflections on the topic of distraction will impact your practice of medicine in the future? What strategies do you anticipate employing?