*IQ is not enough – develop your EQ, too*
- Apr 27, 2023
- 1 min read
Updated: May 3, 2023
Bnai Zion Medical Center is reputedly the first in the world to teach its employees how to boost their emotional intelligence.
This article was published in the Jerusalem Post on April 22, 2017.
Medical professionals tend to be a conservative lot who only change their routines when (if at all) the need to do so is tangible and incontrovertibly proven. Yet Dr.
Amnon Rofe, the director-general of Haifa’s Bnai Zion Medical Center, nevertheless agreed to be a pathfinder three years ago and approved the launching of courses in “emotional intelligence” (EI or EQ) for staffers.
The program has proceeded from one department to another, with doctors, nurses and auxiliary workers included. Not only do they get along better as a result, but their rapport with patients and families is better, and verbal and physical violence is down. Researchers will soon publish studies in medical journals on the project; the state-owned hospital is the first in the world to adopt EI in its departments on a systematic basis.
“The program has changed a lot of things for the better,” Rofe, a gynecologist by training, told The Jerusalem Post in a recent interview.
“It has changed the atmosphere and improved interpersonal relations among workers and with the patients. Our staff received new tools to cope with stressful situations and contain violent blowups in the hospital.
The working climate here has improved significantly.”
The EI courses have already been conducted in the pediatrics and anesthesiology departments, and have just begun in the emergency department, which is prone to stress and tension, as well as in obstetrics and surgery.
It's truly inspiring to read about Bnai Zion Medical Center's pioneering systematic adoption of emotional intelligence training, especially the measurable impact on reducing verbal and physical violence. Medical professionals, as you noted, are often conservative, so Dr. Rofe's foresight in launching these courses three years ago, despite potential initial skepticism, clearly paid off in creating a significantly improved working climate. While the article brilliantly showcases the organizational benefits, it also makes me wonder how individuals within such a program, or even outside of it, can accurately gauge their own emotional intelligence levels. For anyone looking to personally assess your emotional intelligence and identify areas for growth, resources like these can be incredibly insightful.
Taking a depression test can help you find the words to describe your feelings to a doctor or a loved one. It gives you a structured way to talk about your symptoms.
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is a huge factor in success at work and in relationships. If you're curious about your own strengths and weaknesses in this area, taking a free online EQ test is a great way to start. It can give you a baseline and show you where you can grow.