The Relationship Between Surgeon Faculty Emotional Intelligence and Medical Student Evaluations

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 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.