The patient-physician relationship begins when a doctor provides care for their patient. Trust is a fundamental component of the patient-physician relationship for achieving compliance and higher satisfaction rates with medical care. Previous studies have investigated the physician's emotional intelligence as a factor in patient-physician trust. However, this study examined the role of emotional intelligence from the patient’s perspective in the medical student population, compared to existing findings in college students. The study hypotheses stated that emotional intelligence will positively correlate with the trust in physicians in medical students and that the level of emotional intelligence from medical students will be higher, given their evolving level of education.

This IRB-approved study recruited 100 medical students who completed a survey through the online survey platform, Qualtrics. Survey questions included the 11-item Trust in Physician (TPS) Likert scale, a universal scale used to assess patients' views of their physician. Additionally, the survey included the Wong and Law Scale of Emotional Intelligence (WLEIS), which is a self-report Likert measure.

The emotional intelligence of the medical student was positively associated with trust in physician (r = 0.263, n =100, p < .001). In comparison to the study where emotional intelligence of the college student was positively associated with trust in physicians (r = 0.340, n = 202, p < .001). Additionally, on a scale of 1-7, the mean Emotional Intelligence score for medical students was 5.63 (SD = 0.578) and for college students was 5.72 (SD = 0.856), which were not significantly different (t = 0.958, p = 0.339).

This study found that as emotional intelligence of the patients increased, their trust in their physician also increased, in both college and medical student populations. These data indicate a robust generalizable relationship between emotional intelligence of patients and trust in physicians. Further study is needed to unpack the subcomponents and potential causation mechanisms underlying the relationship. We hypothesized that medical students who are exposed to healthcare systems as a patient and in the future as a physician, may self-report a higher level of emotional intelligence which could impact their patient-physician relationship. However, the level of emotional intelligence in the two samples was not significantly different. The findings of this study add to the existing knowledge on the patient-physician relationship and further study is warranted to assess the extent of the impact it has on patient outcome, compliance, and satisfaction with care.