New mindfulness book inspires OMC healthcare masterclass

New mindfulness book inspires OMC healthcare masterclass

Dr Maura Kenny, one of the teachers of the OMC Masterclass ‘Teaching Mindfulness to Doctors and Healthcare Professionals’ has described how a new book by physician, researcher and mindfulness teacher Ronald Epstein was part of the inspiration behind her creation of the Masterclass for the Centre.

Ronald Epstein’s “Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness and Humanity”, released in hardcover in the UK this June, is the first book for the general public linking mindfulness and medical practice and outlines the role of mindfulness practice in distinguishing ‘masterful doctors from those who are merely competent’.

The 5 July OMC masterclass which it helped to inspire brings together Dr Kenny and two other medical doctors (and experienced mindfulness teachers), for a day of exploration, practice and discussion on how mindfulness can best serve the medical profession.

Maura trained in MBCT under the guidance of Professor Mark Williams and his colleagues in the UK, before beginning teaching MBCT to clinical groups in 2002 and completing her Advanced MBCT training in 2006.

The OMC course curriculum draws from her experiences from developing and running a 6 week Introduction to Mindfulness course offered to over 400 Australian healthcare and other professionals, which resulted in significant reductions in stress scores and improvements in self-compassion. Maura has also been invited to speak at a variety of key medical conferences and meetings on the topic of resilience and wellbeing in the medical profession.

She is joined on the OMC course by Professors Michael Krasner (US) and Anne Speckens (Holland) who are also pioneers of mindfulness for medical staff in their respective countries. Their excellent work can be found here:

Association of an Educational Program in Mindful Communication With Burnout, Empathy, and Attitudes Among Primary Care Physicians

Mindful Practice, University of Rochester Medical Center (Michael Krasner)

Mindfulness-based stress reduction for GPS: results of a controlled mixed methods pilot study in Dutch primary care

Watch a video of Professor Michael Krasner talking on why mindfulness matters in healthcare professions.