Mindfulness and Medicine: A Conversation with Carole South-Winter, ND

Carole South-Winter is an Associate Professor and Health Services Administration Program Director in the Beacom School of Business at the University of South Dakota. She has practiced mindfulness and yoga for more than 30 years. In recent months, she has been bringing the concept of mindfulness to healthcare organizations as a way to reduce burnout among medical professionals. We spoke with her about her efforts in this exclusive interview. 

MED: Are healthcare professionals under more stress now than they used to be, COVID-19 notwithstanding?

CSW: I believe so. There is an ongoing battle about whether medicine is an art or a science. Physicians lost a lot of autonomy when the world demanded that so many private practices be absorbed by systems. Before, you were not just staff. Now you are staff like everyone else and there are protocols you have to follow. 

MED: You have done research in this area. What did you learn?

CSW: Physician burnout is real but it isn't just about the system. What so many of them are experiencing parallels the findings of a similar study on soldiers and PTSD. What this body of research was pointing to was that burnout among physicians is largely about apathy. They'd like to offer a treatment to a patient, but insurance won't cover it so administration says no. Physicians know what they are supposed to do to help, but their hands are tied. This puts them smack dab where soldiers are. They feel like ''I can't care any more so I'm just not going to care.'"

MED: How does mindfulness play into this?

CSW: There have been some studies on mindfulness among doctors. Some suggest that doing something like just taking three seconds to look at your hand or to notice a painting right before stepping into an exam room allows you to kind of reset and center yourself. 

MED: How do you think the novel coronavirus has impacted the situation?

CSW: Every person has a simmering undercurrent of anxiety and stress right now. It's there whether we name it or ignore it or suppress it. It's something we share as humans. We need to figure out how to turn this into a positive, to let it drive our efforts to prevent burnout. This may look like bringing free tools to healthcare professionals that they can use to support themselves. What this virus does is take your breath, so how might we teach them to incorporate breathing as care back to themselves? That could be a non-threatening connection. You are already seeing this trend on the coasts. Some hospitals have labyrinths. We are just slow to adopt this, even though it's 5,000 years old. 

MED: You recently did a keynote on this idea for a group of healthcare professionals. What was the response?

CSW: It was fun because we anticipated skepticism. I saw some of them roll their eyes and look at their watches in the beginning. I started the presentation with music and sea scenes. Then I showed them the science. Then we came back to some mindfulness exercises in the end and they participated. The thing I want to get across is that these kinds of interventions are cost effective. You don't have to buy a machine. This is something you can give back to your employees and honor them. 

Carole South-Winter, ND, EdD, CNMT, RT, FAEIRS is an Associate Professor and Health Services Administration Program Director in the Beacom School of Business at the University of South Dakota. In addition to holding a degree in naturopathic medicine since 1999, she served over a decade as Program Director of the largest nuclear medicine technology program in the United States, Director of Education for the AHRA, Executive Director for Reclaiming Youth International, Annual Meeting planner for AEIRS for 10 years, and Director of a private radiology oncology physician practice. Dr. South-Winter is a prolific researcher producing over 2 dozen peer reviewed publications in the past 6 years; she continues to lecture and publish at local, state, national, and international levels.