Mindfulness in Medical Education

I have had the privilege of working as a Teacher Educator in Higher Education for over 18 years, spanning both Post-Compulsory and Medical Education (the latter for almost 14 years). Alongside these roles, I have designed and delivered a wide range of mindfulness-based programmes and initiatives.

During my time at Newcastle University, I introduced the 8-Week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course for staff and students, and facilitated numerous drop-in sessions and workshops. I have led wellbeing workshops with Dr Zoe Williams (GP on Good Morning Britain and former Gladiator), and hosted webinars with Dr Kathryn Mannix (TED speaker and author of Listen), and Professor Ron Epstein (author of Attending and US-based physician). I also developed and led an undergraduate module on Transpersonal Psychology and Mindfulness for third-year undergraduate students.

I am currently a full-time Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at the University of Sunderland’s School of Medicine, where I help lead the Master of Medical Education programme, chair the university’s annual Medical Education Conference, and lecture on mindfulness for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

At the national level, I serve as Co-Chair of the Mindfulness in Medical Education (MiME) Special Interest Groupfor the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME), working to advance mindfulness scholarship in medical education. I also peer-review mindfulness-related research for journals including Mindfulness, Healthcare, and International Medical Education.

My current writing projects include articles exploring physician self-care and the relationship between mindfulness and anatomical functioning.

You can find more detail below about my work in Higher Education.

ASME’s Mindfulness in Medical Education Special Interest Group (MiME)

I have worked as Co-Chair of the MiME Special Interest Group for around 7 years. The aim of this group is to ‘raise awareness of the contribution mindfulness can make as an evidence-based discipline to healthcare and healthcare education through the promotion of dialogue, sharing of good practice, and networking. The SIG also aims to support its members to undertake and disseminate high quality mindfulness-related scholarship.’ (MiME website)

Over the years we have hosted a number of events including events such as:

We have also published the following:

We have a number of new events in the pipeline. Find out more about MiME here

Higher Education

Over the past 12 or so years I have introduced mindfulness into my Higher Education roles. Currently, as a Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at the University of Sunderland, I lecture on mindfulness twice a year to year 1 and year 2 medical students. I also contribute to a workshop on complementary medicine for year 2 students.

My main role at the university is on the Master in Medical Education programme. Here I introduce mindfulness into two modules focusing mainly on how to maintain self-care through mindfulness practice. 

As Chair of the School of Medicine’s annual Medical Education conference, I help promote collaboration and research around key themes. This year, the conference is focusing on education for preventative healthcare.

In my previous role at Newcastle University, I created an extensive role in bringing mindfulness to students and staff across the university.

“Michael has become my 'go-to' mindfulness teacher - the mindfulness teacher I recommend to friends, family, and acquaintances.”

— Andrew Brown