Introduction
death, Anxiety, anxiety, Psychological distress, depression
The practice of medicine and the training to become a physician are associated with high levels of stress (e.g. patient death, treatment failures, difficult interactions with patients and families, and excessive cognitive demands) [Psychological distress harms not only individuals’ well-being but also impedes their professional performance. Anxiety and burnout can increase medical errors [In view of the harmful effects of medical training and practice on both the practitioner’s mental health as well as professional performance, the implementation of strategies and interventions to ameliorate the situation is vital. An alternative would be the practice of compassion. Several medical associations include compassion in their codes of ethics [A growing body of evidence associates compassionate care with beneficial outcomes not only for patients [Fortunately, evidence from the so-called Compassion-Based Interventions (CBIs) suggests that CBIs improve mindfulness, self-compassion and well-being, while reducing anxiety and depression symptoms [Among the CBIs, the Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) [Most CCT studies have focused on the general population, with few examples in health-care workers [