Emotional intelligence among residents in general surgery: analysis of a national survey

Abstract

Background: Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to recognize our own feelings and those of others, to motivate us and properly manage relationships. EI encompasses many non-technical skills that are important for physicians in training.
Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the psychometric characteristics of EI among residents in general surgery in Argentina and to analyze the effects of age, sex, scope of practice and postgraduate year level on it.
Material and methods: We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional analytic study using the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form (TEIQue-SF v1.5), a self-report and anonymoussurvey that was answered on-line during Ma rch 2020. The statistical analysis was performed by using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for quantitative variables, Student’s t-test and ANOVA (95% CI, p statistic
α 0.05).
Results: The survey was responded by 156 physicians; 105 (67.3%) were women and 51 (32.7%) wereme n (mean age: 29.02 ± 3.69 years). Mean global score was 4.58 ± 0.89. ANOVA showed statistically significant differences in the well-being dimension and global scores of EI across the different postgraduate year levels (p = 0.002 and p = 0.0001, respectively).
Conclusion: EI is an attractive and effective model for defining and training future general surgeons in non-technical skills. These findings are important for generating new proposals for training.