DO WE NEED TO CARE: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND EMPATHY OF MEDICAL AND DENTAL STUDENTS

Authors

  • Muhammad Irfan Head, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Peshawar Medical College, Riphah International University Islamabad - Pakistan
  • Urooj Saleem Department of Health Professions Education, Peshawar Medical College, Riphah International University Islamabad - Pakistan
  • Mifrah Rauf Sethi Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Peshawar Medical College, Riphah International University Islamabad - Pakistan
  • Ayesha Sumera Abdullah Department of Health Professions Education, Peshawar Medical College, Riphah International University Islamabad - Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Biomedical knowledge, though pre-requisite, needs to be supported by other important skills, in order to transform medical education and healthcare delivery. This study was thus planned to analyze the correlation between emotional intelligence (EI) and empathy in medical and dental undergraduate students. Methods: This cross-sectional correlational study was conducted at public and private sector medical and dental institutions of Peshawar, Pakistan from February 2015 to June 2017. Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale (SEiS) & Davis' Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) were used to assess emotional intelligence and empathy. The data was analyzed using SPSS-20. The p-value of <0.05 was considered significant when tests of significance were applied. Results: The mean age of the sample (n=2170) was 21.02±1.62 years. High level of EI (118.60±15.78) was reported in 1191 (54.9%) while higher empathy (63.24±14.24) was reported in 1115 (51.4%) students. Female medical students had significantly higher empathic behavior and emotional intelligence than male students (p<0.05), while no significant difference was found between male and female dental students. Medical students of private sector showed higher level of empathy as compared to public sector (p<0.05), whereas dental students of private sector showed higher level of emotional intelligence as compared to public sector (p<0.05). EI and Empathy had significant correlation (r=.370, p=0.000). Conclusion: The study showed that EI and empathy have strong correlation. Since higher levels of both have been reported in only half of the students, therefore, there is a need to work on EI of students to improve in their empathetic behavior.Keywords: Emotional Intelligence; Empathy; Medical Students; Dental Students

Author Biography

Muhammad Irfan, Head, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Peshawar Medical College, Riphah International University Islamabad - Pakistan

Dr. Muhammad IrfanMBBS, MCPS (Psychiatry), FCPS (Psychiatry), MS (Mental Health Policy & Services), PhD Head, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Peshawar Medical College, Peshawar-Pakistan  Provincial Chapter Chief, Pakistan Psychiatric Society General Secretary, Pakistan Association of Cognitive Therapists Chair, Special Interest Group on "Culturally Adapted Interventions" of World Association of Cultural Psychiatry  President Elect, Pakistan Association of Medical Editors

References

Elam CL. Use of “emotional intelligence” as one measure of medical school applicants' no cognitive characteristics. Acad Med 2000;75(5):445–6.

Cherry MG, Fletcher I, O'sullivan H, Shaw N. What impact do structured educational sessions to increase emotional intelligence have on medical students? BEME Guide No. 17. Med Teach 2012;34(1):11–9.

Van Rooy DL, Viswesvaran C, Pluta P. An evaluation of construct validity: What is this thing called emotional intelligence? Hum Perform 2005;18(4):445–62.

Jani BD, Blane DN, Mercer SW. The role of empathy in therapy and the physician-patient relationship. Forsch Komplementmed 2012;19(5):252–7.

Pedersen R. Empirical research on empathy in medicine - A critical review. Patient Educ Couns 2009;76(3):307–22.

Schutte NS, Malouff JM, Hall LE, Haggerty DJ, Cooper JT, Golden CJ, et al. Development and validity of a measure of emotional intelligence. Personal Individ Differ 1998;25(2):167–77.

Davis MH. A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy: Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology. 1980;10:85–103.

Shetty C, Venkatappa KG, Parakandy SG, Sparshadeep EM, Das S. Assessment of emotional intelligence in first year medical students: A questionnaire based study. IOSR J Dent Med Sci 2013;3(4):23–6.

Kumar A, Puranik MP, Sowmya KR. Association between dental students’ emotional intelligence and academic performance: A study at six dental colleges in India. J Dent Educ 2016;80(5):526–32.

Imran N, Aftab MA, Haider II, Farhat A. Educating tomorrow’s doctors: A cross sectional survey of emotional intelligence and empathy in medical students of Lahore. Pak J Med Sci 2013;29(3):710–5.

Prabhu S, Kumar VS, Prasanth SS, Kishore S. Standing in patients' shoes — survey on empathy among dental students in India. J Educ Ethics Dent 2014;4(2):69–73.

Babar MG, Omar H, Lim LP, Khan SA, Mitha S, Ahmad SF, et al. An assessment of dental students’ empathy levels in Malaysia. Int J Med Educ 2013;4:223–9.

Kataoka HU, Koide N, Ochi K, Hojat M, Gonnella JS. Measurement of empathy among Japanese medical students: psychometrics and score differences by gender and level of medical education. Acad Med 2009;84(9):1192–7.

Sherman JJ, Cramer A. A measurement of changes in empathy during dental school. J Dent Educ 2005;69(3):338–45.

Roh MS, Hahm BJ, Lee DH, Suh DH. Evaluation of empathy among Korean medical students: a cross-sectional study using the Korean Version of the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy. Teach Learn Med 2010;22(3):167–71.

Hojat M, Mangione S, Nasca TJ, Cohen MJ, Gonnella JS, Erdmann JB, et al. The Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy: development and preliminary psychometric data. Educ Psychol Meas 2001;61(2):349–65.

Bhaskar DJ, Aruna DS, Rajesh G, Suganna M, Suvarna M. Emotional intelligence of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry postgraduate students in India. Eur J Dent Educ 2013;17(1):e5–9.

Austin EJ, Evans P, Magnus B, O'Hanlon K. A preliminary study of empathy, emotional intelligence and examination performance in MBChB students. Med Educ 2007;41(7):684–9.

Bangash AS, Ali NF, Shehzad AH, Haqqi S. Maintenance of empathy levels among first and final year medical students: a cross sectional study. F1000Res 2013;2:157–62.

Berg K, Majdan JF, Berg D, Veloski J, Hojat M. Medical students' self-reported empathy and simulated patients' assessments of student empathy: an analysis by gender and ethnicity. Acad Med 2011;86(8):984–8.

Tavakol S, Dennick R, Tavakol M. Medical students’ understanding of empathy: a phenomenological study. Med Educ 2012;46(3):306–16.

Stratton TD, Saunders JA, Elam CL. Changes in medical students' emotional intelligence: An exploratory study. Teach Learn Med 2008;20(3):279–84.

Faye A, Kalra G, Swamy R, Shukla A, Subramanyam A, Kamath R. Study of emotional intelligence and empathy in medical postgraduates. Indian J Psychiatry 2011;53(2):140–4.

Anushka G, Nagesh L. Empathy and Emotional Intelligence in Dental Practitioners of Bareilly City–A Cross sectional Study. Natl J Integr Res Med 2018;7(4):106–12.

Downloads

Published

2018-12-09