The Impact of a Brief Embedded Mindfulness-Based Program for Veterinary Students

Veterinary medical students, like other university students, are likely to experience elevated levels of stress, anxiety, and depression over the course of their studies. Mindfulness-based interventions have previously been effective for university students in reducing stress, depression, and anxiety. In this study, a mindfulness-based intervention was embedded in a core (compulsory) unit of a veterinary science course, in part with the aim of improving student well-being. Preliminary results suggest that, despite the mindfulness intervention, overall symptoms of stress, depression, and anxiety among participants (n=64) increased between the start and end of the semester. However, further analysis showed that most of this longitudinal increase was attributable to individuals who scored above the normal range (i.e., at least mild level of symptoms) in one or more measures at the beginning of the semester. Within this subset, individuals who regularly engaged in mindfulness practice once a week or more thro...