The Mindful Medical Student: A Psychiatrist’s Guide to Staying Who You Are While Becoming Who You Want to Be
158 pp, $19.95
Lebanon, NH, University Press of New England, 2009
ISBN-13: 978-1-5846-5763-7
- Colin Walsh, MD, ReviewerDepartment of MedicineColumbia University Medical CenterNew York, New York cgw2106@columbia.edu
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
In The Mindful Medical Student: A Psychiatrist's Guide to Staying Who You Are While Becoming Who You Want to Be, Jeremy Spiegel has written an effective “guide to dealing with the emotional, psychological, ethical, and spiritual challenges of medical school and a career in medicine.” Through exposition, example, and exercise, Spiegel provides techniques in psychotherapy as means of achieving one's “true self” while navigating the complex personas and archetypes that he describes in the medical world.
Divided into 3 parts and 12 brief chapters, The Mindful Medical Student is best suited for medical students in the clinical environment. The stresses of the preclinical years are acknowledged, but the book focuses on the internal and external influences students will face on the wards. The first part, “Discovering Who You Are,” addresses qualities of the true self and pitfalls of the false self such as avoidance, lying, perfectionism, and obsessive behaviors. …
