Bringing Mindfulness to Medicine Through Leadership Studies

Published August 1, 2025

Stanford emergency medicine physician Dr. Al’ai Alvarez is so committed to the Johns Hopkins MS in Organizational Leadership program that he recently submitted his homework assignment from Dharamshala, India, where he was co-facilitating a mindfulness conference.

“I was halfway across the globe and collaborating with my classmates to submit a team assignment,” said Alvarez, who expects to complete his degree in 2026. “I have come to know that all my homework in the program will be relevant to my current work, and the authenticity of my work, without tripling my work. A lot of the reason that I am pursuing this degree at Hopkins is because I needed to learn more about how to address system-level inefficiencies, how to find creativity through human-centered design, through curiosity, and by applying the many things I am learning through the master’s program to advocate for changes. Over the years, I have found that I can do better if I align with my institution’s leadership. To do that, I need to learn how to think beyond established frameworks while staying rooted in the theories I study. I appreciate the challenge of connecting new ideas with what I already know to find practical, meaningful solutions.”

Alvarez is a first-generation physician who was raised by a single mother and arrived in America from the Philippines when he was 13. He has contributed to different roles in emergency medicine for 15 years, after attending SUNY at Buffalo to earn his medical degree. He served as the assistant medical director at one of the busiest emergency medical departments in California’s Bay Area for seven years. Alvarez then transitioned into medical education and became one of Stanford Emergency Medicine’s associate residency program directors, before assuming his current role as their Director of Well-Being and Co-Lead of the Human Potential Team.

It was Alvarez’s work that first brought him to Dharamshala, where His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and members of the Tibetan Buddhist community reside in exile. Tasked with advancing health and well-being that is grounded in ethical, holistic, and human-centered leadership for his high-performance, high-energy team of emergency physicians, Alvarez scheduled a 30-day sabbatical in 2023 in India. There, he hoped to learn more about the concepts of meditation, mindfulness, self-awareness, and self-compassion.

Alvarez headed into the experience fueled by the phenomenon of “creative serendipity” – that is, the concept of opening himself up to the possibility of gaining valuable insights and innovative breakthroughs as a result of chance encounters.

“I thought instead of just reading about them, why not just learn from the Tibetan monks who study and practice these concepts for life,” Alvarez said. “Selfishly, I also thought it would be great to meet the Dalai Lama, and the highest likelihood of me having an encounter with him would be to go where he resides.

“I have returned each June to assist with the conference, which is designed for physicians and other adjacent health care workers, so that we can learn from Tibetan medicine and have a professional exchange,” he continued. “My personal interest was to better understand how to navigate the struggles of the expectations of being a physician and how to address physician burnout. It was a great learning and life-changing experience.”

As Alvarez can attest, emergency medicine, as a specialty, has the highest burnout rate in all of medicine, and he has sadly seen his share of good doctors exit the profession prematurely.

“Alongside my role as the Director of Well-Being at Stanford Emergency Medicine, I lead the peer-support program for the School of Medicine,” he said. “It is important for me to understand and uncover ways that people are dealing with stress so that we can discuss ways for them to take care of themselves, while also taking care of other people. In emergency medicine, people run on adrenaline in high-stress, often life-or-death situations. They regularly compromise meals and sleep just to keep up with the demands of the job. They need to know that they are not alone in this experience, and they need to learn to offer themselves the same kindness they would easily give to a best friend. How are we helping manage this situation? How do we optimize the individual as well as the team? We can talk about these challenges openly and incorporate small practices that help people find alignment and fulfillment, instead of resentment and burnout.”

Alvarez hopes to combine several important concepts he learned from the Tibetan monks, with the leadership skills he is honing at Hopkins, as he guides efforts with Stanford’s Occupational Well-Being Model. In this role, he focuses on strengthening a culture of wellness, addressing inefficiencies in practice, and supporting individual growth in areas like resilience and self-compassion.

“I realize now that when I was the assistant medical director, I was the source of burnout for many people because I wanted to make things faster, better, more efficient. I knew how to do that from a programmatic perspective, but I didn’t understand how to do it from a human perspective. I know now that there is a way to do both. I can be effective, and I can be kind to people.

“I have also learned, from my time in India, that it is important to embrace our shared humanity and to do something that maximizes your own human potential. We can spread happiness through our work,” he continued. “This is why I am studying at Johns Hopkins and embracing all the other work that I am doing. It allows me to be a bigger benefit to others. The Tibetan monks have an intentionality for preserving the inner child. Even with the seriousness of their work, they are content and find joy and laughter in the simplest things. Learning as a growth mindset requires a lot of self-awareness and self-compassion. Understanding my imperfections, and allowing myself to grow, has opened more doors and many opportunities for me. Leadership allows me to help others do the same.”

And, as Alvarez had imagined, “creative serendipity” did indeed lead to unexpected connections, including three brief but meaningful interactions with the 90-year-old Dalai Lama.

“Those encounters with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama gave me goosebumps all over,” Alvarez said, “which a friend once described as the ‘energy of truth.’ When I’m closely aligned with what feels true, I get those goosebumps. For me, that truth is mindfulness and medicine. I love emergency medicine because it gives me the chance to show up for people at their absolute worst, as my authentic self, sharing our common humanity.”