Abstract
Objective: We sought to measure the emotional intelligence (EI) of surgical faculty and the relationship between faculty EI and medical student (MS) evaluations of faculty. Design: Faculty completed the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal. Aggregate, anonymous MS evaluations were collected from the Program Director's office. Parametric and nonparametric tests were used for analysis. Setting: This study was first performed in a single surgical division at 1 center which informed an expanded study including the entire General Surgery Department at a single academic institution. Participants: A pilot study was conducted in 1 surgical division which was then expanded to all clinical faculty in the Department of Surgery. All clinical faculty in the Department of Surgery were eligible for enrollment. Results: Pilot study faculty EI scores were positively correlated with MS evaluations (r = 0.92, p < 0.001). The follow-up study enrolled 41 surgeons with a median age of 48 (inter-quartile range 12). The sample was mostly white (70.7%). Mean EI for the group was 76 (standard deviation ± 7.8). Total faculty EI scores were not significantly correlated with MS evaluations (r = 0.30, p = 0.06). Conclusions: MS evaluations of surgeon faculty were not related to EI in the larger sample. However, EI did correlate to MS evaluations in 2 surgical specialties. Further exploration into the utility of EI training in surgical departments should be conducted to determine the true value of such endeavors.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 604-611 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Surgical Education |
Volume | 78 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 1 2021 |
Keywords
- Clinical rotations
- Emotional intelligence
- Medical student education
- Surgery clerkship
- Surgery rotation
- Surgical education
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Education