Cara Alexander’s research while affiliated with Mayo Clinic - Rochester and other places

Objective The authors investigate whether inner relationship focusing increases self-awareness in medical students and, in the process, to give them experience with empathic listening. Methods Thirteen second-year medical students were randomized into experimental and control groups and surveyed pre-course and post-course about their self-awareness and perceived comfort with clinical interpersonal skills. Subjects attended a 20-h course on inner relationship focusing, followed by 5 months of weekly sessions. Pre-course and post-course survey scores were averaged by group, and mean differences were calculated and compared using the two-sample t test. Results The experimental group showed improvement in all areas compared to the control group. Improvement in one area (comfort talking to patients about how recurring symptoms might relate to issues in their lives) reached statistical significance (P = 0.05). Conclusions Inner relationship focusing is a potential tool to increase self-awareness and empathic listening in medical students.