Having the “Headspace” for Compassion Toward Self and Others: A Qualitative Study of Medical Students’ Views and Experiences

ABSTRACTPhenomenon: Debate about compassion exhibited by healthcare professionals has escalated, following a perceived decline over recent years. At the same time, a growing interest in self-compassion has emerged, which is seen as facilitating compassion toward others. Little research has explored, in depth, what compassion to self and others means to medical students. Therefore, a study was designed to address this gap in knowledge. Approach: A qualitative study was conducted, involving students from all 4 years of a graduate-entry medical school in the United Kingdom. Focus groups were used to obtain the views of students on compassion for self and others (patients). Care was taken to achieve variation within the sample in terms of age, gender, and year of study. Focus groups were completed between September and October 2016. An inductive thematic analysis was performed. Findings: A total of 31 students participated in 4 focus groups, each lasting between 60 and 90 minutes. Having the cognitive freedom...