EMOTIONAL INTELLIIGENCE AMONG ALEXANDRIA UNIVERSITY DENTAL INTERNS

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Emotional intelligence (EI) was reported to help in coping with stress, managing patients, improving doctor-patient relationship and trust; moreover, it leads to more successful career performance of dental students and professionals. OBJECTIVES: To assess the EI levels of the dental interns according to socio-demographic and personal characteristics, and to some study related variables such as, reason for choosing dentistry, satisfaction with career choice and desire to enroll in a dental postgraduate sub-specialty program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was cross-sectional; it involved all Egyptian dental interns, graduated from the Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, and enrolled in the internship program in the year of 2014-2015. Emotional Intelligence was assessed using the Genos, 31-item, self-reported, questionnaire, rated on a 5-point Likert scale, measuring EI across a seven subscale model and its relation to the different variables. All ethical and administrative approvals and permissions were obtained. RESULTS: A total of 267 (157 females, 110 males) interns participated in the study, with response rate of 76.72%. Most of the respondents (84.3%) showed high EI, while 15.7% showed average EI, and none showed low EI. The highest scores were observed in ‘emotional awareness of others’ (mean%=71.2), and the least in ‘emotional self-control’ (mean%=64.5). Significantly higher EI (p < 0.005) was detected in those who were males, single, chose dentistry as their own desire, were satisfied with choosing dentistry, and wanted to enroll in a postgraduate dental sub-specialty program. No significant differences were found regarding age, areas of residency, rate of internet use, type of parental education or job. CONCLUSIONS: Fresh dental graduates from Alexandria Dental University have reported high overall EI levels, which were significantly associated with gender, marital status and study related variables, more studies are needed to find the role of EI in dental student’s academic and clinical performance.