Predictors of high achievers in Indian medical undergraduates: Association with emotional intelligence and perceived stress

BACKGROUND: Today's Bachelor in Medicine, Bachelor in Surgery (MBBS) students will become Indian Medical Graduates in future. Emotional intelligence (EI) is an essential component in the making of an Indian Medical Graduate. There is increasing stress during medical training. The study was conducted to compare the association of EI score and perceived stress scale (PSS) among average and excellent undergraduate medical students. The secondary objective was to find the predictors of excellent academic performance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted after institutional ethics committee approval. All 522 consented students studying in 2(nd), 4(th), 7(th), and 9(th) semesters filled up established pre-validated questionnaires ; Schutteself report EI test and Cohen's perceived stress scale. Sociodemographic details of the respondents were collected. Average attendance and marks of previous semester examinations of all included students were collected from academic cell of the institution. All students were grouped into three groups: average, good, and excellent performers from the marks collected. Comparison of EI scores and PSS scores was done between students in excellent and average groups using unpaired t-test. RESULTS: Of the 94.9% of respondents, 78.2% of the students were included in the study. The mean EI and PSS scores were 123 ± 14.5 and 22.8 ± 13.9, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in EI scores between average and excellent performers ([123.8 ± 18.7] vs. [127.7 ± 16]; P – 0.089). Perceived stress was lower in excellent performers ([20.9 ± 11.1] vs. [24.8 ± 15.0]; P – 0.01). EI was associated with better performance in clinical year students. EI was negatively correlated to perceived stress. CONCLUSION: Our study provides predictors of excellent academic performances among Indian medical undergraduates. This study suggests introduction of extracurricular activities in ongoing undergraduate curricular syllabus. It imparts awareness among students about the importance of attending classes. This study bestows higher EI and lower perceived stress to better academic performance.