Does Emotional Intelligence at medical school admission predict future licensing examination performance?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychometrics
• Admissions Assessment

Background:

• Medical schools seek admissions criteria beyond traditional academics.
• Emotional intelligence (EI) is a potential alternative measure.
• Admissions criteria should predict future performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if EI scores at admission predict performance on a medical licensure examination.
• To assess the predictive validity of EI in medical school admissions.

Main Methods:

• Administered the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT v2.0) to medical school applicants.
• Correlated MSCEIT scores with Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) Part I and Part II scores.
• Controlled for age and gender as covariates.

Main Results:

• No significant correlation was found between MSCEIT scores and MCCQE Part I (r=.01, p=.90) or Part II (r=.06, p=.41).
• EI scores did not significantly add to the predictive variance of age and gender for MCCQE scores.
• Age and gender were significant predictors of MCCQE scores, but EI was not.

Conclusions:

• Low correlations between EI and medical licensure exam scores align with previous research.
• EI scores show weak predictive validity for performance on medical licensing exams.
• Caution is advised when considering EI as part of the medical school admissions process.