{"id":2998,"date":"2020-09-11T16:19:42","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T20:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?p=2998"},"modified":"2020-09-11T16:19:42","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T20:19:42","slug":"emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Emotional Intelligence During a Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. Syed is a Chief Medical Resident at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, MA.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe are the keepers of each other\u2019s future,\u201d my program director said in her speech on our graduation day. These words have resonated in my mind and inspired me in laying the foundation for my chief residency year. We all have the opportunity and responsibility to teach and learn from each other. I remember the first day of my internship, where I felt like a sponge trying to adsorb or absorb as much as I could. And here we are, 3 years later, ready to take the reins \u2014 some of us as attendings, some as fellows, and, a few of us, as chiefs.<\/p>\n

Living in a world with COVID-19, one can\u2019t help but wonder what this means to the new residents and medical students stepping into medicine. Medicine never was and never\u00a0<\/strong>will be an easy science. As residents and medical students go through training this year, learning to truly appreciate and internalize what it means to be on the frontlines will be a unique experience. Although there is a formal curriculum for residents and medical students, which is absolutely needed,<\/span> we also must be mindful about giving our residents the best tools to work through the pandemic. One such tool is emotional intelligence (EI).<\/p>\n

\"EQ_5<\/a>

from Wikipedia: Dfrench17 \/ CC BY-SA<\/p><\/div>\n

Emotional intelligence is the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings, and use those feelings to guide behavior to achieve one\u2019s goal(s). There is growing research and evidence that a doctor\u2019s EI can influence his or her ability to deliver meaningful and compassionate patient care. But is EI is a trait we are born with or a learned skill that we acquire? I think it is a combination of both. Through this pandemic, I have found that we, as a medical community, are developing a stronger sense of emotional intelligence. To highlight this, consider the ‘Mixed Model Theory’ by the journalist\/scientist Daniel Goleman<\/a> which endorses five key elements that lay the foundation for EI: motivation, self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills. I want to share this theory through medical binoculars with illustrations that I believe might help us become better physicians.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defining emotional intelligence through the pandemic: <\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Motivation<\/strong> \u2013 the ability to go on in life, despite obstacles or limitations one may have. One big concern we had earlier this year was the new interns\u2019 experience as they were about to start training. Would they be able to start residency training on time? Could medical graduates travel nationally and internationally to their matched programs to train? Would their learning be compromised as we innovated through the pandemic (while socially distancing ourselves)? It takes motivation and commitment to leave everything and everyone in your life at home and move to a new location or country to train and work during a pandemic. Our program is diverse, with residents from 14 countries on 5 continents, which means that we must work within all those countries\u2019 rules and regulations to have our interns join us this year. As we traversed through varying timelines in getting our residents to our program, we learned from all their experiences and journeys. I appreciated our interns\u2019 motivation and dedication as they successfully began their training this past summer.<\/li>\n
  2. Self-awareness<\/strong> – the ability to recognize one\u2019s moods, feelings, skills, and limitations. Being self-aware is essential, as this also has an effect on our patients and the care we deliver. Going through the pandemic with a surging number of cases and losing patients to this illness warrants reflective debriefing and addressing one\u2019s own feelings associated with it. Self-awareness is vital to reduce physician burnout while maintaining hope and optimism and seeing the light at the end of this tunnel.<\/li>\n
  3. Self-regulation <\/strong>\u2013 the ability to use self-awareness to control one\u2019s own impulses and recognize our impulses while caring for our patients. This pandemic brought with it limited visiting rights, which meant families could not meet their loved ones who were in the hospital. This regulation usually was met with understanding, occasionally with grief, and rarely with anger. Self-regulation for a healthcare provider in this setting means controlling one \u2019s response to this challenging situation and advocating the importance of social distancing in keeping family members safe.<\/li>\n
  4. Empathy<\/strong> \u2013 \u201cgoing the extra mile\u201d is the ability to understand other people\u2019s emotions and reactions. Being motivated and self-aware while regulating one\u2019s own emotions allows one to be an empathetic physician. Through this pandemic, I have realized the power our words and actions genuinely have. Whether it was using your phone to Facetime patients\u2019 family members to allow them to see their loved ones in the hospital, covering for your colleague who may be sick, or staying beyond your shift time to stabilize your ill patient \u2014 there have been numerous examples of nurses and residents going the extra mile. I cannot do justice to all their efforts and sacrifices, many of which go unnoticed. I am reminded of the following quote: \u201c<\/span>People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.\u201d <\/span><\/em>– Maya Angelou<\/span><\/em><\/em><\/li>\n
  5. Social skills <\/strong>\u2013 the ability to pick up social cues during our interaction, as we find common ground with others. Being socially inclusive while socially distancing has been a new way of life. The key has been to consistently innovate to supplement our lives through the pandemic for our education, learning, and social wellness. As an example, we have a wall in our department where we mount an annual picture of all our residents with the program leadership. This year might have been the first in which we would not have a group picture of all our residents. We had to innovate, while practicing social distancing \u2014 which resulted in what I think is the most<\/span> exceptional picture of all time.\n

    \"2020<\/a>

    Saint Vincent Hospital Internal Medicine 2020 – Courtesy of Dr. Avinash Singh.<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Our actions are a product of our mindset and ever-evolving perspective. Working through this pandemic has most definitely changed our perspective about caring for our patients and each other. As a chief resident, it is my honor to witness my residents\u2019 and interns\u2019 tremendous growth through training. Helping students find their true calling and meaning in their work is a rewarding experience for every educator. One such example for me is this poem penned by my intern, Dr. Vishesh Jain, as he worked through the pandemic and wrote about what it truly meant to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>

    A Wandering Smile – by Dr. Vishesh Jain<\/p><\/div>\n

    In conclusion, I appreciate all my colleagues (physicians, residents, nurses, nutritionists, physical\/occupational therapists, case managers, EMTs, PCAs, other frontline workers) preparedness to show up to work \u2014 be it during a pandemic or not, no questions asked, no less heroic than soldiers walking into war. During these times, emotional intelligence is vital, as it adds meaning to our lives and helps reduce healthcare worker burnout while allowing them to provide the best patient care. As we continue to care for our patients, not knowing the long-term complications of this disease, we must not forget our power as healers. One cannot cure every ailment, but perhaps one can help heal it.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"NEJM<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cWe are the keepers of each other\u2019s future,\u201d my program director said in her speech on our graduation day. These words have resonated in my mind and inspired me in laying the foundation for my chief residency year. We all have the opportunity and responsibility to teach and learn from each other. I remember the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1307,"featured_media":2999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,1499,72,1498,1043],"class_list":["post-2998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-about-residency","tag-art-of-medicine","tag-meaningful-doctor-patient-encounters","tag-medical-education","tag-reducing-burnout","tag-wellness"],"yoast_head":"\nEmotional Intelligence During a Pandemic - Insights on Residency Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Syed discusses the tenets of emotional intelligence and remarks on how they apply to the current healthcare environment.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Emotional Intelligence During a Pandemic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Syed discusses the tenets of emotional intelligence and remarks on how they apply to the current healthcare environment.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Insights on Residency Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-11T20:19:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/09\/SVH-Residents-2020-Picture-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1246\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Masood Pasha Syed, MBBS\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Masood Pasha Syed, MBBS\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/\",\"name\":\"Emotional Intelligence During a Pandemic - Insights on Residency Training\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-11T20:19:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-11T20:19:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/b537e241372832aafb12ff4105cb10d4\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Syed discusses the tenets of emotional intelligence and remarks on how they apply to the current healthcare environment.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Emotional Intelligence During a Pandemic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/\",\"name\":\"Insights on Residency Training\",\"description\":\"Observation of residents across diverse medical specialties\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/b537e241372832aafb12ff4105cb10d4\",\"name\":\"Masood Pasha Syed, MBBS\",\"description\":\"I\u2019m Masood Pasha Syed, and I\u2019m currently a Chief Medical Resident at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. I grew up in the middle east and in south India (Bangalore), which helped me imbibe many different cultures. I was gifted with a wonderful family support system, to whom I no doubt owe all my success. I went to medical school to M.S. Ramaiah Medical College and then moved to the U.S. to pursue my dream of academic excellence. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship in breast medical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and then transitioned into residency in Internal Medicine. I was fortunate to be offered a scholarship for the Harvard Medical School Cancer Biology and Therapeutics program, which allowed me to develop wonderful insights into the world of hematology\/oncology. Throughout my journey, I have been blessed by meeting amazing and thoughtful people who have been instrumental in shaping my life: I believe firmly in mentoring my residents to help build their future. I met my better half, Bushra Abdul Aleem prior to residency, and she is currently a Chief Resident in Anesthesiology at the University of Massachusetts. I enjoy playing soccer, cooking, and traveling in my spare time. After my residency, I plan to pursue a career in academic hematology\/oncology and hopefully to work in thrombosis to figure out why some people have pathological clotting. I also want to continue mentoring and advocating for my peers while serving as a member of the American College of Physicians Resident\/Fellow Member Council. My life goal is to address the disparity in care between developed and developing nations.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MasoodPashaSyed\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/author\/mpsyed\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Emotional Intelligence During a Pandemic - Insights on Residency Training","description":"Dr. Syed discusses the tenets of emotional intelligence and remarks on how they apply to the current healthcare environment.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Emotional Intelligence During a Pandemic","og_description":"Dr. Syed discusses the tenets of emotional intelligence and remarks on how they apply to the current healthcare environment.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/","og_site_name":"Insights on Residency Training","article_published_time":"2020-09-11T20:19:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1246,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/09\/SVH-Residents-2020-Picture-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Masood Pasha Syed, MBBS","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Masood Pasha Syed, MBBS","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/","name":"Emotional Intelligence During a Pandemic - Insights on Residency Training","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-09-11T20:19:42+00:00","dateModified":"2020-09-11T20:19:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/b537e241372832aafb12ff4105cb10d4"},"description":"Dr. Syed discusses the tenets of emotional intelligence and remarks on how they apply to the current healthcare environment.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/09\/emotional-intelligence-during-a-pandemic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Emotional Intelligence During a Pandemic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/","name":"Insights on Residency Training","description":"Observation of residents across diverse medical specialties","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/b537e241372832aafb12ff4105cb10d4","name":"Masood Pasha Syed, MBBS","description":"I\u2019m Masood Pasha Syed, and I\u2019m currently a Chief Medical Resident at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. I grew up in the middle east and in south India (Bangalore), which helped me imbibe many different cultures. I was gifted with a wonderful family support system, to whom I no doubt owe all my success. I went to medical school to M.S. Ramaiah Medical College and then moved to the U.S. to pursue my dream of academic excellence. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship in breast medical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and then transitioned into residency in Internal Medicine. I was fortunate to be offered a scholarship for the Harvard Medical School Cancer Biology and Therapeutics program, which allowed me to develop wonderful insights into the world of hematology\/oncology. Throughout my journey, I have been blessed by meeting amazing and thoughtful people who have been instrumental in shaping my life: I believe firmly in mentoring my residents to help build their future. I met my better half, Bushra Abdul Aleem prior to residency, and she is currently a Chief Resident in Anesthesiology at the University of Massachusetts. I enjoy playing soccer, cooking, and traveling in my spare time. After my residency, I plan to pursue a career in academic hematology\/oncology and hopefully to work in thrombosis to figure out why some people have pathological clotting. I also want to continue mentoring and advocating for my peers while serving as a member of the American College of Physicians Resident\/Fellow Member Council. My life goal is to address the disparity in care between developed and developing nations.","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/MasoodPashaSyed"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/author\/mpsyed\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}