pone.0330290.t006 -

Medical scientists have dual commitments to clinical care and research efforts. Such commitments can create hectic and stressful work schedules, which may impact on well-being and cognition. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that brief mindfulness coaching (three 1.5 hour online group sessions over 12 weeks) can benefit medical scientists. We conducted a waitlist-controlled intervention study (n = 43) with M.D./Ph.D. preclinical or graduate students and post M.D./Ph.D. trainees/faculty. Assessments of quantitative outcomes included self-reports of burnout, mindfulness, self-compassion, and well-being, as well as objective neuro-cognitive assessments. The results showed no effect of intervention on self-report measures. However, amongst cognitive measures, selective attention performance was significantly improved following the intervention (bias corrected effect size, Hedges’ g = 1.13, p = 0.005). Extent of improvement in selective attention correlated with suppression of visual alpha oscillations – a neural marker for distractibility – measured using electroencephalography (EEG) (r = −0.32, p Trial registration: The study was registered in the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number Registry (ISRCTN16736293) at https://www.isrctn.com/.