Benchmarking Emotional Intelligence in an Allied Health Science Program

Abstract

The healthcare reimbursement methodologies are rapidly changing the face of medicine. Prior research indicates Emotional Intelligence (EI) is an important attribute for individuals serving patients and has a significant impact on interpersonal relationships which is directly related to patient satisfaction. Based on literature, academic grades and cognitive ability alone will not identify long-term success in the workforce, emotional intelligence assessments are recommended to gain a better perspective of the student’s emotional abilities (Becker, 2011). This study aims to illuminate relationships concentrated on EI and the extent to which EI is a good predictor of desired attributes in aspiring healthcare professionals. A total of thirty seven subjects with varying degrees of healthcare experience were categorized into three groups. Sixty-eight percent of subjects are female, 95% White and ranged in age from 19 years to 45 years (M=27.5, SD=6.9). Using data from both the traditional assessment of intelligence by Health Education System Incorporated (HESI) and emotional intelligence based on the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), no significant relationship was found between the two assessments. As predicted, emotional intelligence is a better indicator of emotional and physical performance in a healthcare facility and academic ability is predicted effectively by the HESI assessment.