Emotional intelligence of medical students and need for training

Introduction: Emotional Intelligence (EI) is essential for a competent physician. The present study was taken up to see the need for training in EI among medical students as a group. It was hypothesized that analysis of the individual scores obtained from the students could give a scoring of the whole group and show if training is needed. Aim: To measure Emotional Quotient (EQ) of the First year MBBS students in 18 areas of EI. Objectives: To assess the EI of the study subjects, to provide the students with an EQ map of their own, to compare the EI in both the genders and to assess the need for professional training of medical students in EI. Results: Self-skills analysis showed that 74.4% of the girls and 75.5% of the boys were in Caution/Vulnerable group while for social-skills it was 45.6% and 53.1% respectively. This brought out the need for training in EI. Gender did not have any significant effect on self or social skills. There was statistically significant association between self-skills and social skills (p<0.0001). Conclusion: The study proved that there was a need for training in emotional handling of self-skills and social skills among the medical students.