Does emotional intelligence at medical school admission predict future academic performance?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychometrics
• Noncognitive Assessment

Background:

• Medical school admissions increasingly use noncognitive measures.
• Emotional intelligence (EI) is one such measure under consideration.
• The predictive validity of EI for academic performance in medical school requires investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess if emotional intelligence (EI) abilities test scores at medical school admission predict future academic performance.
• To determine the utility of EI measures in medical school admissions decisions.

Main Methods:

• University of Ottawa medical school applicants from 2006-2007 completed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso EI Test (MSCEIT) at interview and matriculation.
• MSCEIT scores were correlated with written examinations, objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), clinical performance nominations, and recorded failures over four years.

Main Results:

• No significant correlations were found between MSCEIT scores and written exam scores or failures.
• Correlations between MSCEIT scores and OSCEs were generally low, with one significant correlation in the 2007 cohort.
• Correlations between MSCEIT scores and clinical nominations were also low, with one significant finding in the 2007 cohort.

Conclusions:

• Emotional intelligence (EI), as measured by the MSCEIT at admission, does not reliably predict medical school academic performance.
• The role of EI in medical school admissions requires further definition through future studies.