Is compassion-focused mindfulness the antidote to the stress experienced by health professionals? Dr. Dawn DeWitt is a Professor and Senior Associate Dean for the Washington State University College of Medicine’s Collaboration for Interprofessional Health, Education, Research, and Scholarship. Dr. DeWitt practices “Mindful self-compassion,” a process developed by Dr. Kristen Neff and Dr. Chris Germer, which teaches individuals how to acknowledge emotional challenges and respond with compassion. Listen to learn more about why Dr. DeWitt thinks mindful self-compassion is critical to reducing stress symptoms. She also shares new insights about how accessible techniques like meditation can impact brain and gene structure.

“Finding Joy: The Health Care Professional’s Journey to Well-being" is a podcast resource developed by a team of interprofessional education researchers from Washington State University Health Sciences Spokane. They’re promoting well-being among students, faculty, and healthcare professionals during challenging times. Funding is provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration.

The Interprofessional Education Research team wishes to thank the following individuals for their invaluable contributions to this project:

• Dr. Barb Richardson, nurse, educator, and interprofessional champion;

• Cameron Cupp, creator of the “Finding Joy” musical score and current enrollee at WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine;

• Washington State University staff from Marketing and Communications, Financial Services, and the Collaboration for Interprofessional Health Education Research and Scholarship; and

• Claire Martin-Tellis, Executive Producer, and Solen Aref, student intern, who developed the first five episodes of the “Finding Joy” podcast.

This episode of “Finding Joy” was produced by Doug Nadvornick, Program Director, Spokane Public Radio.

If you would like to reach out, please contact our team by sending an email to: medicine.ipoc@wsu.edu We also encourage you to visit our podcast blog as well as our team's website at: https://opioideducation.wsu.edu/about/.