In this context, we suggest that purposeful mindfulness training could be a powerful component of stress resilience training among surgeons and surgical trainees. This hypothesis is further supported by the Mindful Surgeon pilot RCT of surgical interns who underwent an 8-wk formalized mindfulness mental training curriculum with pre-, post- and 1 year follow-up assessment in 2016. Outcome measures included burnout, depression, suicidality, stress, mindfulness, executive function testing, circulating biomarkers of stress and functional MRI of the brain and neural circuitry. Data is still being collected and analyzed, but preliminary analysis suggests that the intervention arm manifests less stress and stress deterioration than controls.