ABSTRACT: Emotional Intelligence and Simulation
Emotional intelligence (EI) is an established concept in the business literature with evidence that it is an important factor in determining career achievement. There is increasing interest in the role that EI has in medical training, but it is still a nascent field. This article reviews the EI literature most relevant to surgical training and proposes that simulation offers many benefits to the development of EI. Although there are many unanswered questions, it is expected that future research will demonstrate the effectiveness of using simulation to develop EI within surgery.
Written by Brian S McGowan, PhD
Brian is a research scientist and educational technologist. He helped transform Pfizer’s Medical Education Group and previously served in educational leadership roles at HealthAnswers, Inc.; Acumentis, LLC.; Cephalon; and Wyeth. He taught graduate medical education programs at Arcadia University for 10 years. Dr. McGowan recently authored the book "#socialQI: Simple Solutions for Improving Your Healthcare" and has been invited to speak internationally on the subject of information flow, technology, and learning in healthcare.
