Richard Carroll, MD; Gregory Gruener, MD; Carla Brown; Aaron Michelfelder, MD

The goal of this elective is to promote student physician wellness by providing the fundamental scientific basis and outcomes for use of the Transcendental Meditation program, while training students themselves in the art and practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique. Students will attend lecture-discussions, training sessions, meditate daily, log meditation sessions, write a reflection paper and take a short exam. Grading will be pass/fail and passing all components is required to pass the elective.

Students will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis on each of the six core competencies. By the end of the rotation students should be able to effectively discuss the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation program with colleagues and patients, and should have incorporated TM into their daily wellness activities. This elective includes lecture-discussions, reading assignments, TM training, daily meditation practice, and maintenance of a mediation log, a reflection writing assignment, and a final multiple-choice exam.