Method

Study Selection and Inclusion CriteriaPotential works were located through searching the following databases:ScienceDirect, ProQuest Central, ProQuest Digital Dissertation, Academic Search Complete, ERIC,Access Medicine, Medline, and PsycINFO. The following keywords were searched in the titles and abstracts: emotional intelligence AND (medical students OR medical school) AND (academic success OR performance OR GPA). Moreover, the authors reviewed the reference list of the two systematic reviews conducted on the same topic (i.e., Cook et al., 2016; Singh et al., 2020). This search resulted in locating 180 works. After removing the duplicates, we obtained 123 items (113 journal articles, 7 reports, 1 magazine, 1 conference material, and 1 dissertation). Five criteria were applied on these 123 works: First, the articles were written English. Second, they reported sufficient statistics to calculate the effect size (Pearson r). Third, they examine the association between emotional intelligence as assessed by a number of well-known EI tests and scales and academic success/achievement defined in terms of GPA or achievement exam(s). Fourth, the search included both published and unpublished works; however, only one dissertation was found, which was excluded because it assessed the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership (Reyes-Dominguez, 2008). Finally, we only included studies that were conducted with undergraduate medical students pursuing their MD. All studies that were conducted on graduate medical students or nursing students were excluded (e.g., Cheshire et al., 2015; Doherty et al., 2013). Applying these criteria brought the number down to 20 studies published between January 2005 to December 2021 (see Figure 1). Insert Figure 1 around here