Emotional Intelligence and Perceived Stress in Medical Education: A Questionnaire Based Survey among Medical & Dental Undergraduates

Aim: To investigate the levels of EI and perceived stress (PS) among two groups of healthcare students (medical and dental) and examined their relationship. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among medical and dental undergraduates and interns at CMH Lahore Medical College and Institute of Dentistry to assess their levels of EI and PS. Participants were assessed on self-administered Sterrett's EI questionnaire and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). The data collected from 627 participants was analyzed using SPSS version 24. Results: Correlational analysis showed an inverse relationship between EI and PS among medical and dental undergraduates. Significant association was observed between level of EI and year of study for both the disciplines. Majority of the participants reported moderate levels of EI and PS. Conclusion: EI can positively affect the students' ability to perform well under stressful situations in healthcare education. Undergraduate curriculum should be designed to focus on EI based education in order to enable healthcare students to cope well with the stress related to their clinical training.