A Pilot Study of Compassion Based Emotion Management Program for the Medical Students in Kerala

Medicine is an emotionally challenging profession. Emotional quality of the medical students is a significant element for the effectiveness of training and professional practice. This study aims to develop and test 'Compassion Based Emotion Management Program' by improving emotional intelligence and reducing the perceived stress of medical students in Kerala, India. This study was used mixed research design: qualitative and quantitative study used to assess the pre and post pilot intervention design. Qualitative study used semi structured in depth interview and focus group discussion to explore the needs of medical students. Perceived Stress Scale (PSS 10) and Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEIS) used to measure the efficacy of the newly developed compassion based emotion management program. Compassion Based Emotion Management program was designed based on Compassionate Mind Therapy, Emotional Intelligence Theory and Broaden build theory of positive emotions. This program was arranged in to ten modules for five weeks. The program was validated by the experts and conducted the program for seven medical students. The data were statistically analyzed using Wilcoxon sign rank test .The pretest and post test scores of the pilot study showed significant difference (p=0.018) in both scales which is below at 0.005. The finding of pilot study shows that Compassion Based Emotion Management program is an effective intervention tool for enhancement of emotional intelligence and reduction of perceived stress.