The Institute for Population Health (IPH) at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q) is introducing a new training course – Mastering Emotional Intelligence – to assist healthcare professionals improve their interpersonal skills.

The aim is to train healthcare professionals to become ’emotionally aware’ and manage the source of their behaviour, reflect on their social awareness and learn how to handle the triggers of their emotions for the benefit of clinical care, health care outcomes, patient satisfaction and team morale. Emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ) is made of four core skills: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. EQ is the foundation for a host of critical skills and the strongest predictor of high performance.

The one-day workshop will be delivered by Maha Elnashar and Huda Abdelrahim from the Centre for Cultural Competence in Healthcare (CCCHC), a unit of the IPH licensed by TalentSmart Inc, one of the world’s top providers of EQ training.

How Important is EQ?

EQ is one of the essential skills necessary to work with and manage cultural diversity, according to CCCHC Director Maha Elnashar. She said that differences can trigger various emotional reactions like anxiety and fear – emotions that can extrude annoyance and apprehension, or stimulate curiosity and interest to learn more.

Dealing with this mixture of emotional responses requires emotional intelligence. The need for well-developed emotional intelligence training is particularly strong in Qatar because of the country’s wide mix of cultures. WCM-Q is also planning to provide the training in Arabic to target all levels of healthcare and educational professionals.’

Published research shows that EQ education is needed in the medical sector as it enhances interpersonal and social communication skills. Benefits also include increased job satisfaction, improved performance and better patient-doctor relationships. It ensures people are treated equally and receive high-quality care.

For example, studies demonstrate that some patients fail to follow instructions if they feel they have not been treated with sufficient respect, while doctors may misinterpret these emotions and be unaware of the patient’s negative feelings towards them. Being emotionally intelligent means that individuals can recognise, understand and manage their feelings in a positive way, allowing them to better deal with highly stressful situations, improve their communication skills, and increase empathy.

Dr Ravinder Mamtani, Senior Associate Dean for Population Health, Capacity Building and Student Affairs, said the course would be an excellent fit for IPH mission, and that improving a person’s emotional intelligence would allow them to be more objective and critical of their feelings, allowing them to give a positive reaction.

Since emotions influence our behaviour and reactions, the regulation of emotions should be coupled with teaching. EQ is a flexible set of skills that can be acquired and improved with practice over time. This new course will enhance WCM-Q’s commitment to improve healthcare across Qatar, providing innovative training to healthcare professionals, allowing them to obtain new skills and consequently, improving the inpatient and outpatient experience for patients.’

For more information about the WCM-Q course on emotional intelligence, visit their website at qatar-weill.cornell.edu.

** Image cover from TalentSmart Inc.