Does the intervention of mindfulness reduce levels of burnout and compassion fatigue and increase resilience in pre-registration students? A pilot study.

INTRODUCTION: In the current clinical working environment it is important that therapeutic radiography students are fully prepared not just clinically but emotionally for a working professional life. Mindfulness has shown promise, as a self-care strategy, in the improvement of burnout, resilience and compassion fatigue in other professions; however, it has not been used with therapeutic radiography students. METHODS: Eight pre-registration therapeutic radiography students were recruited to undergo a five week mindfulness course; six students from the year below were recruited to act as a control arm (no mindfulness). Data was collected using a series of validated tools at baseline, week five, month three and 12 months after the start of the study: RESULTS: The MBI-SS scale demonstrated 29% of the sample experienced emotional exhaustion and 43% increased cynicism. The other tools showed a positive trend with the intervention; however, these were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Although no statistically significant differences were demonstrated between the study arms, some interesting trends have been noted. The key finding was the identification of burnout experienced by almost a third of the study sample. This suggests that a new area of study is warranted to further investigate the factors contributing to burnout in the student population.

Resistance to methotrexate and multidrug resistance in childhood malignancies.

Resistance to drugs, either primary or acquired, is a main problem in cancer chemotherapy. The paper summarizes our results in regard to resistance to methotrexate and multiple drug resistance in human cell lines of pediatric malignancies and in children with resistant cancer. In cell lines as well as in children we could demonstrate amplification of the gene coding for dihydrofolate reductase as a cause for resistance to MTX. Procedures to overcome drug resistance such as treatment with high dose MTX and leucovorin rescue are discussed. The increased expression of the mdrl gene coding for the P-glycoprotein is related to multidrug resistance. This could be shown in cell lines and in children. The expression decreased when the drug, used for induction of resistance, was omitted for a few weeks from the cell culture medium. Readdition of the drug caused a rapid increase of expression. For the first time data in children are presented which demonstrate the amplification of the gene coding for dihydrofolate reductase or increased expression of the mdrl gene as cause of drug resistance. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.