How meditation changed one doctor’s approach to trauma care — SkimNews
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- Robert M. Kinast attended a meditation retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains that prompted him to confront the unprocessed emotional toll of treating traumatic eye injuries.
- Kinast recalled multiple cases of devastating eye trauma — including gunshot wounds, gang violence, and accidents — that he had never fully grieved as a physician.
- Kinast realized his habitual emotional suppression during trauma calls, while intended to maintain patient confidence, had hardened his body and closed off compassion.
- Kinast began incorporating mindfulness into clinical practice, using a ritual of sensing his feet on the ground to stay present with patients during examinations.
- Kinast describes clinic visits as a form of meditation, returning to awareness each time his mind drifts, allowing for greater attunement to patient suffering.
- Kinast expresses deep respect for trauma physicians who manage severe injuries nightly, often without space to mourn the human tragedies they witness.
Why it matters: Physicians like Kinast carry heavy emotional burdens from treating trauma, and without institutional support for emotional processing, stoicism can hinder patient connection. His shift toward mindfulness shows a tangible method to sustain compassion in high-stress medicine, benefiting both clinician well-being and patient care quality.
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