The Fiona Stanley Junior Doctors Online Mindfulness Project

This Research Project will be conducted in two parts. The first part will involve a randomised control trial of an online mindfulness training program (MTP) designed specifically for junior doctors, delivered to interns and resident medical officers working within Fiona Stanley and Fremantle Hospitals to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of the program with regards to reducing perceived stress and improving mindfulness, self-compassion and work engagement. The second part of the study will be qualitative in nature, involving an initial qualitative survey on junior doctor self-care strategies followed by interviews and focus groups with participating junior doctors to assess the underling factors contributing to their stress, as well as the barriers to and perceived benefits of participating in self-care strategies, including the online MTP. The MTP has been developed to include brief, daily mindfulness meditation practices and brief, weekly video teachings on the applications of mindfulness meditation for junior doctors. The program will be delivered via an online platform. This delivery mode aims to minimise the time required by busy junior doctors to invest in the program while providing stress management and self-care skills that are traditionally not taught as part of junior doctor training. The program will be evaluated using both quantitative and qualitative methods, including quantitative surveys before and after the program (part one) as well as qualitative data collection in the form of a pre-intervention survey and post-intervention interviews and focus groups (part two).