Effects of meditation on Medical students health: a literature rapid review

ABSTRACT Introduction: Increasing research suggests that medical students are at high risk of experiencing numerous psychological disorders. This population shows higher rates of stress, depression, mental distress, burnout, and lower levels of life satisfaction compared to students from other disciplines and the general population. Consequently, there is a clear need to seek effective strategies that promote emotional regulation and self-care among medical students. Objective: Review and summarize existing evidence in the literature on the impact of meditation practice on the health of medical students, thereby encouraging its individual use or as part of programs implemented by medical schools. Method: This is a Literature Rapid Review conducted following the recommendations of the PRISMA protocol. The search used Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS/MeSH) based on the research guiding question, including only Randomized Controlled Trials published in the last 10 years. Result: Six documents were included in this research. The findings show that meditation was effective in reducing perceived stress, psychological distress, and vulnerability to the development of psychopathologies, as well as in promoting well-being, life satisfaction, mindfulness, perceived self-efficacy, self-compassion, and altruism. In addition, long-term positive effects were also identified, especially in increasing well-being, self-compassion, self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and decreasing vulnerability to the development of psychopathologies. Conclusion: The results found reveal that meditation presents benefits in various aspects of the health of medical students. Although further studies are needed for confirmation, these findings suggests that the practice can be a promising tool in reducing stress and, consequently, suicide rates, as well as potentially boosting academic performance and patient care.