Whereas in Australia and the USA, mindfulness training is now incorporated into the medical curriculum, in the UK, mindfulness for medical students as part of the core curriculum is still in development.

Outline of the SSC Module: The majority of the module will be experiential, with students being introduced and taught the full eight week course in mindfulness based cognitive therapy. The experiential part of the component involves a commitment to a daily practice of meditation and mindfulness exercises during the eight weeks of the taught SSC. The experiential learning is supported by an exploration of some of the clinical applications of mindfulness through the invitation of guest speakers to four of the eight weekly taught sessions. Guest speakers include a mix of both patients and clinicians who use mindfulness in the areas of stress, trauma, chronic pain, respiratory related anxiety and low mood.

Learning Outcomes of the SSC

• To have an understanding of what mindfulness is and its clinical applications for health care professionals and different populations of patients
• To undertake the 8 week course in MBCT to gain an experiential perspective on mindfulness, how it is taught and how it may, or may not, be helpful to different groups of patients and health professionals
• To begin to develop awareness and understanding of the ways we experience ourselves and our responses to internal and external events
• To experience and understand mindful approaches of relating to difficulty: moving beyond our habitual reactions