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The HLA Effect: Incorporating Mindfulness Into Medical School

Nov. 25, 2019

Health Leadership Apprentice Program coordinator Landon A. Hackley authored the following post.

Ali Haji is a recent University of Texas at Austin graduate now attending Northwestern University to obtain a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. During his time at UT Austin, he was a member of the Health Leadership Apprentice Program fall 2017 cohort and started working on a program called Breathe UT. Inspired to fight the high rates of burnout among medical students across the U.S., Haji created Breathe UT with the goal of incorporating meditation and mindfulness practices into the medical school curriculum to teach students how to relieve stress.

Ali Haji headshot.

Haji was an accomplished entertainment producer in New York, but despite reaching the level of success he dreamed of achieving, he wasn’t happy. He said he decided to take up meditation “as a means of coping with my own anxiety that came from work.” Haji said it eventually gave him the courage to leave the industry against the advice of many friends and coworkers in his search to find his true sense of self.

While he left New York and his job to come back to Austin, he didn’t leave his meditation practices behind: He joined a yoga studio in Austin to continue his self-care routine. Soon after, he joined HLA, where, he said, his Dell Medical School faculty mentors, including Carrie Barron, M.D., “made it super easy to get the project started.”

Haji wants to see students thrive and enjoy life during their time in medical school and beyond. This can be a challenging task at times, and there currently aren’t any standard med school classes that teach students how to take care of themselves. Haji hopes to change this through Breathe UT.

Haji is developing a program that focuses on self-care for students through psychoeducation and meditation practices, and he hopes medical schools will bring it into their curriculums. He wants students to learn how to take time for themselves and gain sustainable self-reflection skills that will guide students in their journeys through medical school and throughout life.

Haji’s time in the HLA program also changed the course of his own career. “While developing Breathe UT,” he said, “Dr. Barron helped me realize my passion lied more in mental health counseling than medical school, which led me to where I am at Northwestern University today.”

After graduating, Haji hopes to use his knowledge and skills to finish developing Breathe UT to its fullest potential and implement it in medical schools across the U.S. He plans on opening his own private practice to work with people in the LGBTQ+ communities with a focus on trauma that incorporates the very same mindfulness and meditation practices as Breathe UT. He also wants to open his own yoga studio that will allow his patients and anyone else in need of mental reprieve to have a place for practicing holistic mental health care methods.

When Haji isn’t in class or working, he loves building on his own yoga skills, practicing functional movement and mobility and listening to music. He also loves playing guitar and piano.

If you are interested in learning more about Haji’s program, reach out to an HLA program coordinator.