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Physician Assistant Trainees Build Emotional Intelligence — and Feel More Successful — with EQ Workshops and Coaching
When PA students added one coaching session to their EQ workshops, 71% showed measurable EQ improvement — and the gains lasted a full year after training ended.
Overview
Situation: Physician-Assistant (PA) students often enter clinical training with average to below-average emotional intelligence, despite evidence that higher EQ is linked to better patient outcomes, lower burnout, and reduced malpractice risk. Le Moyne College’s PA program sought to determine whether supplementing EQ workshops with individual coaching could meaningfully improve students’ emotional intelligence and feelings of success.
Solution: Dr. Mickey Lebowitz and Dr. William Holmes at Le Moyne College embedded four 90-minute EQ workshops into the first-year medical humanities curriculum, led by Lebowitz, a Six Seconds Certified EQ Assessor, Practitioner, and Coach. Students were also offered an optional 60-minute individual coaching session using their personal SEI development reports. Using the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment (SEI), the team tracked 87 students across a 24-month program, comparing those who attended workshops only (n=52) to those who also received coaching (n=35).
Results: In this peer-reviewed study published in the Innovations in Health Sciences Education Journal, students who received workshops plus coaching showed statistically significant improvements in EQ over the workshops-only group — gains that persisted through the second year without additional training. Among students who entered the program with EQ at or below the normative average, 100% of coached students improved, with gains of 5 to 22 points. Coached students also reported significantly greater feelings of success.
“The skills of recognizing different emotions, understanding patterns of emotions, being more confident in navigating negative emotions, and providing empathy have improved the care that I provide as a primary care practitioner.”
— Justine Seliger, PA student
“Practicing medicine is the most physically, mentally, and emotionally stressful activity I have ever done on a regular basis [and he was in the military!] When you are stressed, your worst qualities come out. The knowledge from my EQ assessment and the practices I have implemented since the assessment have empowered me to handle the stress of my job and remain pleasant, humble, and helpful to my patients and my staff.
— Boris Temkin, PA students
Situation
Clinicians with higher emotional intelligence have better job satisfaction, stronger patient relationships, and reduced risk of burnout and malpractice. A systematic review of medical residents, students, and applicants found that higher EQ positively contributes to the doctor-patient relationship, empathy, teamwork, communication skills, stress management, and leadership (Arora et al., 2010). Yet many healthcare students enter clinical practice without strong EQ skills. PA students specifically appear to enter PA school with average to below-average EQ scores.
At Le Moyne College, a 24-month PA program in Syracuse, New York, the faculty recognized an opportunity: accreditation standard B2.20 requires PA programs to address students’ personal wellness, and students themselves have called for curricula that promote work-life balance and stress management. The program asked: Can supplementing EQ workshops with a single coaching session produce measurably greater improvements in students’ emotional intelligence and feelings of success — and do those improvements last?
Solution
Beginning in fall 2020, Lebowitz and Holmes integrated EQ training into the first-year medical humanities course. Lebowitz, a Six Seconds Certified EQ Assessor, Practitioner, and Coach, delivered four 90-minute interactive workshops over two semesters. The first workshop provided an EQ overview; the remaining three focused sequentially on self and social awareness, self and relationship management, and self-direction and empathy. Each session used breakout groups, class discussion, reflection, personal stories, and role playing.
At the end of the first workshop, students were offered a voluntary 60-minute individual coaching session. During coaching, the instructor guided each student through their personal SEI development report, reviewing their EQ results and practical, individualized development strategies. Students then completed a reflection worksheet to consolidate their takeaways.
Using the SEI, the researchers assessed all students at three time points — baseline, end of first year, and end of second year — comparing outcomes between the workshops-only group (n=52) and the workshops-plus-coaching group (n=35). The two groups did not differ significantly in sex, age, or baseline EQ or success scores.
Results
In a peer-reviewed study published in the Innovations in Health Sciences Education Journal, researchers retrospectively tracked 87 PA students across three sequential entering classes using the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment (SEI). Students who received four EQ workshops plus one individual coaching session (n=35) were compared with students who received workshops only (n=52) at baseline, end of first year, and end of second year.
Coached Students Grew EQ
71% of students who received workshops plus coaching showed measurable EQ gains after the first year, compared with 46% of students who received workshops only.
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Even Better From Challenge
Among students who entered with EQ at or below the normative average, every single coached student (12 of 12) improved — with gains of 5 to 22 points.
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EQ Fuels Feeling Success
83% of coached students with lower baseline EQ reported increased feelings of success, compared with 40% of their workshops-only peers.
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One Coaching Session Made a Durable Difference
The EQ gains experienced by coached students during the first year persisted throughout the second year without any additional EQ training. This suggests that a single 60-minute coaching session reviewing students’ personal SEI results and offering individualized development strategies can produce lasting effects when combined with workshops.
Students with Lower Baseline EQ Benefited Most
Among the 31% of students whose baseline EQ scores were at or below the normative average of 100, both training groups improved — but the coached group improved significantly more. All 12 coached students in this subgroup had positive EQ change scores, compared with 80% of the 15 workshops-only students. This finding suggests that programs with limited resources may wish to prioritize coaching for students whose baseline EQ is at or below the normative average.
Read the full paper: Lebowitz, M. & Holmes, W. H. (2026). Emotional Intelligence Training in Physician Assistant Education: Comparing Workshops Alone to Workshops Plus Coaching. Innovations in Health Sciences Education Journal, 3(1), 1–10.
Products & Services Delivered
SEI® Assessment
The SEI – Six Seconds’ Emotional Intelligence Assessment is a validated psychometric tool for measuring Emotional Intelligence, used by over 500,000 people worldwide. It provides in-depth feedback on specific EQ competencies and results and is ideal for 1:1 coaching or advanced training.
EQ Coaching
Individual 60-minute EQ coaching sessions using students’ personal SEI development reports to review results and build personalized EQ development strategies. The coaching methodology blends neuroscience and emotional intelligence with the International Coach Federation competencies.
EQ Skills
The Six Seconds Model aims to develop Emotional Intelligence competencies across three areas: becoming more aware (noticing what you do), more intentional (doing what you believe), and more purposeful (acting with a purpose).
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