Does emotional intelligence influence success during medical school admissions and program matriculation?: a systematic review

PURPOSE: It aimed at determining whether emotional intelligence is a predictor for success in a medical school program and whether the emotional intelligence construct correlated with other markers for admission into medical school. METHODS: Three databases (PubMed, CINAHL, and ERIC) were searched up to and including July 2016, using relevant terms. Studies written in English were selected if they included emotional intelligence as a predictor for success in medical school, markers of success such as examination scores and grade point average and association with success defined through traditional medical school admission criteria and failures, and details about the sample. Data extraction included the study authors and year, population description, emotional intelligence I tool, outcome variables, and results. Associations between emotional intelligence scores and reported data were extracted and recorded. RESULTS: Six manuscripts were included. Overall, study quality was high. Four of the manuscripts examined emotional intelligence as a predictor for success while in medical school. Three of these four studies supported a weak positive relationship between emotional intelligence scores and success during matriculation. Two of manuscripts examined the relationship of emotional intelligence to medical school admissions. There were no significant relevant correlations between emotional intelligence and medical school admission selection. CONCLUSION: Emotional intelligence was correlated with some, but not all, measures of success during medical school matriculation and none of the measures associated with medical school admissions. Variability in success measures across studies likely explains the variable findings.