Emotional intelligence and its correlation to performance as a resident: a preliminary study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that emotional intelligence, as measured by the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-I) 125 (Multi Health Systems, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) personal inventory, would correlate with resident performance. DESIGN: Prospective survey. SETTING: University-affiliated, multiinstitutional anesthesiology residency program. PARTICIPANTS: Current clinical anesthesiology years one to three (PGY 2-4) anesthesiology residents enrolled in the University of Pittsburgh Anesthesiology Residency Program. MEASUREMENTS: Participants confidentially completed the Bar-On EQ-I 125 survey. Results of the individual EQ-I 125 and daily evaluations by the faculty of the residency program were compiled and analyzed. MAIN RESULTS: There was no positive correlation between any facet of emotional intelligence and resident performance. There was statistically significant negative correlation (-0.40; P < 0.05) between assertiveness and the "American Board of Anesthesiology essential attributes" component of the resident evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional intelligence, as measured by the Bar-On EQ-I personal inventory, does not strongly correlate to resident performance as defined at the University of Pittsburgh.

Presentation of dapsone-induced methemoglobinemia in a patient status post small bowel transplant.

Methemoglobinemia, an uncommon hemoglobinopathy, affects oxygen transport, causing tissue hypoxia. In the perioperative period, methemoglobinemia is often overlooked as a cause of low oxygen saturation, often mistaken for the more common causes of hypoxia, such as atelectasis, pulmonary edema, or pulmonary embolus, among other causes of respiratory failure. Most cases of methemoglobinemia in the perioperative period are precipitated by local anesthetics, especially benzocaine. Dapsone, a sulfone antibiotic, is used for prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in immunosuppressed patients. It is commonly used in organ transplant patients, especially those intolerant to sulfa. With the expansion of organ transplantation and improved long-term survival of these patients, presentation of status post organ transplant patients for surgery will inevitably increase. We report a case of dapsone-induced methemoglobinemia observed in a status post small bowel transplant patient in the postanesthesia care unit.

Emotional intelligence and the relationship to resident performance: a multi-institutional study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that emotional intelligence, as measured by a BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), the 125-item version personal inventory (EQ-i:125), correlates with resident performance. DESIGN: Survey (personal inventory) instrument. SETTING: Five U.S. academic anesthesiology residency programs. PARTICIPANTS: Postgraduate year (PGY) 2, 3, and 4 residents enrolled in university-based anesthesiology residency programs. MEASUREMENTS: Residents confidentially completed the BarOn EQ-i:125 personal inventory. The deidentified resident evaluations were sent to the principal investigator of a separate data collection study for data analysis. Data collected from the inventory were correlated with daily evaluations of the residents by residency program faculty. Results of the individual BarOn EQ-i:125 and daily faculty evaluations of the residents were compiled and analyzed. MAIN RESULTS: Univariate correlation analysis and multivariate canonical analysis showed that some aspects of the BarOn EQ-i:125 were significantly correlated with, and likely to be predictors of, resident performance. CONCLUSIONS: Emotional intelligence, as measured by the BarOn EQ-i personal inventory, has considerable promise as an independent indicator of performance as an anesthesiology resident.

The resident application process and its correlation to future performance as a resident.

Many authors have attempted to determine predictors for success within a residency program. There is very little agreement about what is useful. We hypothesized that our residency selection process is effective in determining which resident applicants would be most likely to excel in our program. To test this hypothesis, we reviewed the scores that applicants received after their interview day to determine if there was a correlation with any measures used to evaluate residents once they entered residency training. Our results determined that the score given to an applicant fails to correlate with any of the areas that are evaluated throughout their residency. The only statistically significant correlation was between the scores assigned by the selection committee to applicants and the applicant scores on their first year in training examination. We concluded that our residency selection process score does not accurately predict which applicants will excel in our program.