**1. Introduction**

In the last decades, healthcare systems in the Western world have been undergoing constant, profound, local and global changes. These changes present new challenges to health systems and require them to adapt to the new and dynamic era of the 21st century.

Macro-level changes and consequent challenges include the digital revolution [1, 2]; the need to work with, and alongside, technological innovations and artificial intelligence (AI) [3]; frequent reforms and changes to regulations (citation removed for blinding); an increase in life expectancy and other demographic changes; and the need to address all of these changes with limited resources and in face of increasing competition within health care organizations [4].

Micro-level challenges include changes in patients' consumerist approach and in patients' access to information, as well as changes in the power relations between patients and care- givers, and the entry of younger generations (Generations Y and Z) into the workplace.

In order to address these challenges and effectively carry out these systemic changes and prepare healthcare students and professionals to additional current and future changes, healthcare personnel need to adopt a wide range of new skills, and healthcare systems need to find effective ways to disseminate these skills among present and future employees [5].

#### **1.1 Social-emotional skills and healthcare professions**

Faced with the need to change and modify healthcare systems, one crucial set of skills that has been predominantly referred to is "soft skills". The term describes skills that are not strictly cognitive or technical [6] and ones that include both intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies [7]. Thus, many of the soft skills which are now referred to as "critical skills" or "core skills", are included in the concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI).

In its essence, EI involves an optimal combination of emotion and thought and consists of one's ability to identify, use, understand and manage feelings in oneself and in others [8, 9]. Several models have proposed a set of emotional and social skills and competencies that are related to emotionally intelligent behaviors and outcomes in various fields, and which can be actively developed [10–12]. Such skills typically include self-awareness, awareness of others (empathy), emotional management (self-regulation) and interpersonal communication.

In recent years, a broad body of research has highlighted the contribution of EI and social–emotional skills to areas such as physical and psychological health; interpersonal relationships; and effectiveness and success in academic studies and in a wide range of organizations, occupations and levels of employment [11, 13–15]. In particular, a large number of studies have emphasized the importance of SEI for coping with challenges of the 21st century [16].

In the field of medicine, social–emotional skills have been linked to success across a wide range of positions and roles [17]. Noted examples include links to effective performance under pressure, increased commitment to healthcare organizations, positive interpersonal communications, and effective teamwork among medical staff [18]. Additional studies have pointed out correlations between SEI and better doctor–patient relations [19], fewer medical lawsuits [20], empathic treatment [21], precision in medical diagnoses and consequently in treatment [22], lower levels of situation-related anxiety in patients [23], higher levels of patient responsiveness to treatment, increased patient satisfaction and higher patient trust in healthcare staff [24]. Yet despite the clear benefits offered by social–emotional skills in the healthcare professions, the social–emotional skills of medical students have often been noted to be similar or even lower than those of the average population [25], and at times were even noted to decrease during their studies [26].

Consequently, there has been a call to develop social–emotional intelligence among medical students, nursing students and medical management students [27]. Nevertheless, to date, and despite a growing understanding of the importance of social–emotional skills to medical professions, the development of these skills has only captured a limited place in medical school curricula and in the training of healthcare staff.

#### **1.2 Teaching social-emotional skills: academic and professional training**

Until recently, both admissions to healthcare education programs and subsequent academic success were defined primarily on the basis of superior cognitive

#### *Making Soft Skills a Part of the Curriculum of Healthcare Studies DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98671*

abilities. Traditional teaching, learning and assessment processes focused on knowledge and on cognitive abilities (citation removed for blinding).

However, in recent years, it has been increasingly recognized that cognitive and professional abilities are not sufficient criteria for success in medical schools and in the medical profession. Consequently, several hospitals have begun incorporating social–emotional skill development efforts as part of ongoing training for their medical teams [28]. Several medical schools have also introduced admission measures that examine candidates' personal and interpersonal abilities [29] as well as courses for social–emotional skill development [30]. Nevertheless, such efforts are still limited, due to time and overload constraints and to a lingering, mainly cognitive, focus. This paper will introduce the theoretical and methodological underpinning of a novel tool for the development of social–emotional skills, suitable for use among medical students and staff.
