Effects of Transcendental Meditation on Academic Physician Burnout and Depression: A Mixed Methods Randomized Controlled Trial.
The Journal of continuing education in the health professions Marie Loiselle, Carla Brown, Frederick Travis et al.
Burnout is common among physicians and harms both individuals and institutions. A mixed methods randomized controlled trial with 40 academic physicians from 15 specialties tested the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique. At 4 months, the TM group showed significant improvements in total burnout, emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment, and depression compared with controls. Qualitative interviews supported these results: physicians who regularly practiced TM reported relief from burnout and depression symptoms, while the control group did not. The findings suggest TM is a viable intervention for reducing burnout and depression in academic physicians, though larger studies are needed.