Sorry to necrobump this, but JAMA just published another interesting editorial about this question called
"Does Medicine Overemphasize IQ?" The authors appear to be unaware of the holistic review process that some adcomm members are pioneering. Here are the interesting parts:
"Everyone wants the best physician....[But] do the smartest students, as measured by science grades and standardized test results, truly make the best physicians?
Vitally important to the success of 21st-century clinicians are 3 capabilities: to
(1) effectively lead teams, (2) coordinate care, and (3) engender behavior change in patients and colleagues. (Both 1 and 3 require negotiating skills.) Thus, effective physicians need both an adequate IQ and a high EQ.
For the 10% of chronically ill patients who consume nearly two-thirds of all health care spending,
7 the primary challenge is not solving diagnostic conundrums, unraveling complex genetic mutations, or administering specially designed therapeutic regimens. Rather,
physicians caring for chronically ill patients with several comorbidities must lead multidisciplinary teams that emphasize educating patients, ensuring medication adherence, diagnosing and treating concomitant mental health issues, anticipating potential illness exacerbations, and explicitly discussing treatment preferences.
These activities depend on
listening, building trust, empathy, and delineating mutual goals. Chronic care management, in addition to sufficient intelligence, therefore primarily requires a high EQ.
Efforts to select medical students based on EQ have been largely absent from medical school admission criteria. Why? Historically, admissions committees have focused too much on academic training and pedigree.
Undoubtedly, EQ—like IQ—is at least somewhat genetic. Yet just as there are ways to improve general intelligence,
so too are there ways to improve emotional intelligence. This suggests 3 important changes in 21st-century medical education. First, admissions committees must deemphasize IQ and increase the emphasis of EQ in the selection of medical students. This can be done by
eliminating the irrelevant premed requirements of organic chemistry, physics, and calculus, while requiring training in psychology and leadership.
Second,
medical school admissions should incorporate explicit evaluations of EQ. An important first step has been the recent modification of the MCAT, which now includes a section on the psychological, social, and biological foundations of behavior. To build on this change, admission committees should also consider incorporating model negotiation sessions as part of the interview process. Alternatively, medical schools might use techniques to assess EQ such as the
Emotional and Social Competency Inventory or behavioral event interviewing techniques.
Third,
medical schools should include more training for their medical students, focused not just on managing myocardial infarctions or the genetics of hypertension but explicitly on enhancing EQ. Medical students should be taught how to listen to their patients, encourage behavioral changes, and coordinate with team members in clinical settings.
It is time for medicine to reduce its emphasis on IQ. If medicine hopes to identify and train a phenomenal next generation of caring, effective physicians who can lead multidisciplinary teams and induce patient behavior change, the medical profession must start by recognizing the importance of EQ."
