Emotional Intelligence, a Step Further on Empathy and Leadership Skills of Future Doctors: A Cross-Sectional Study on Undergraduate Medical Students of Pakistan.

Abstract

Background: Emotional intelligence (EI), empathy, and leadership are essential competencies in medical training, yet evidence from lower-middle-income countries such as Pakistan is limited. This study assessed EI among medical students and examined its association with empathy, authentic leadership, and sociodemographic factors.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included 264 undergraduate medical students (years 2-5). EI was assessed using the Quick EI Scale measuring Emotional Awareness (EA), Emotional Management (EM), Social Emotional Awareness (SEA), and Relationship Management (RM). Empathy was evaluated using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Student Version (JSE-S), and leadership was measured using the Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment Questionnaire (ALQ) assessing Self-Awareness (SA), Internalized Moral Perspective (IMP), Balanced Processing (BP), and Relational Transparency (RT). Associations were analyzed using chi-square tests, ANOVA, and Spearman's correlation (p<0.05).

Results: Participants showed balanced gender representation (male: 49.6%, female: 50.4%) and were predominantly aged 21-23 years. Age and ethnicity demonstrated significant effects across multiple EI domains, with younger students showing higher EA (p=0.05) and SEA (p<0.001), while ethnicity significantly influenced EA (p=0.05), SEA (p=0.01), and RM (p<0.001). Extracurricular participation improved EM (p=0.03) and RM (p=0.03). In leadership domains, age affected SA (p=0.05), and ethnicity significantly predicted SA (p=0.05). Extracurricular involvement strongly enhanced IMP, BP, and RT (all p<0.001). Empathy increased with age (p<0.001), was higher among females (p=0.01), and was associated with autonomous career choice (p<0.001) and extracurricular participation (p<0.001). Academic year affected EA and empathy (p<0.001), with a U-shaped pattern final year students achieved highest scores (106.99±17.19) while fourth year showed lowest (93.89±19.49). EI correlated strongly with leadership, SEA most with empathy, and SA, BP, RT were significantly linked to empathy.

Conclusion: EI, empathy, and leadership are interrelated competencies shaped by demographic, academic, and extracurricular factors. Incorporating structured EI and leadership development into medical curricula may help cultivate compassionate, emotionally intelligent physician-leaders.