Response to: ‘Student Perceptions of a Reflective Writing-Based Wellness Course: “Good in Theory, but…”’

Dear Editor,

In their article, MacArthur et al. [1] explore student perceptions of reflections in order to aid wellness during their medical school experience. They concluded that there are differences in how wellness courses are best delivered, but there is importance in student realisation of not being alone. I understand the value of this article and would like to share my perspective as a fifth year medical student in the UK.

In my experience as a medical student in the UK, I am faced with a very different reality than what MacArthur wrote about. Far be it from living up to this ‘prevailing cultural norm… to silence any expression of emotions as to not threaten the objective delivery of health care’. Rather, I found that in medicine, students are offered meetings, on a one-to-one basis as well as group wellness meetings, and special designated wellness rooms in university and hospital. This support is often taken for granted as a medical student.

I would like to take the opportunity to draw attention to the work of Ryznar and Levine [2]. They proposed a rather unique suggestion of addressing mindful teaching as well as learning. This places the onus on to educators in the style they deliver teachings. I highly recommend that this is taken into consideration, seeing as caring for a student’s mental health is multi-faceted. Mindfulness must be integrated into the curriculum; thus, the role models that we look up to must demonstrate the practice which students should adopt. This is to cultivate an environment so that the prevailing cultural norm serves to offer everyone support.

In reference to practical implications suggested in the work of MacArthur et al., I would suggest hosting small group meetings, where pre-selected willing medical seniors are able to share their struggles in medical school and beyond. This fosters an open environment with a well-being group who could stay together throughout their years in university. To alleviate other fears, these mandatory meetings could be held at the beginning of the semester, so that it does not clash with exams.

Availability of Data and Material

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.

Declarations

Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Disclaimer

The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the article.