LETTER�TO�EDITOR

marks or grades of students should be considered for 
their entry to this sacred profession but also the 
moral, ethical and behavioral principles of the 
candidate should be concerned. It is also necessary 
to incorporate the students with skill to deal the 
patients with cultural competency in their curricula 
and then their sensitivity and response according to 
needs and expectations of patients also taking 
account of patient's age, culture, gender, lifestyle, 
beliefs, race, and disability.  Therefore, it is the dire 
need of time to understand and implement the 
knowledge, practice and realization of emotional 
intelligence. 
1. Cherry MG, Fletcher I, O'Sullivan H, Dornan T. Emotional 

intelligence in medical education: a critical review. Medical 
education. 2014;48(5):468-478.

2. Council GM. Tomorrow's Doctors 2003: Recommendations 
on undergraduate medical education.

3. Hargie O, Boohan M, McCoy M, Murphy P. Current trends in 
communication skills training in UK schools of medicine. 
Medical teacher. 2010;32(5):385-391.

Dear Sir/Madam
Emotional intelligence (EI) describes a person's 
ability to assess and respond to emotions of his/ her 

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own or of others.  It is a major contributor in daily life 
as well as health care delivery system. Every person 
belonging to this sacred domain needs to be 
compassionate enough to understand the sufferings 
and should be able to deal and manage the patient's 
problem effectively. There is no formal system of EI 
assessment at the time of recruitment in health care 
profession. The individuals with compassionate 
attitude, value and behaviors should be given some 
priority for being selected. They then must be 
trained for patient interaction and communication 
using the principles of emotional intelligence. This is 
necessary to avoid the unpleasant incidents that 
happen because of improper dealing from the 
professional that leads to increasing dissatisfaction 
of patients towards the professionals. Doctors, 
n u rs e s ,  p hys i c a l  t h e ra p i st s  a n d  a l l  o t h e r  
professionals should be educated for delivering 
empathetic care. All of them should be good 
communicators. The General Medical Council 
(GMC), the body that regulates and controls the 
medical education standards in the UK, states that 
doctors in future will commune with patients and 
their relatives clearly, sensitively and efficiently by 

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listening effectively, sharing and responding.  They 
will keep the ethical and legal principles in their 

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behavior.  All these areas are under the umbrella of 
EI. The UK and other developed countries have taken 
serious account in incorporating and teaching 
doctor-patient relationship and communication in all 
the curricula of health professions and it is taught 

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formally along with feedback system.  
It is recommended that the assessment prior to 
recruitment should be done and merely not the 

Contribution of Emotional Intelligence in Health Professional Education 
1 2

Kiran Khushnood , Nasir Sultan

Correspondence:
Dr. Kiran Khushnood
Lecturer
Department of Physical Therapy 
Shifa Tameer e Milat University, Islamabad
E-mail: kirankhushnood@yahoo.com

1
Department of Physical Therapy

Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Islamabad
Department of Rehabilitation
2
Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad

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