title: What variables can influence clinical reasoning?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical reasoning is one of the most important competencies that a physician should achieve. Many medical schools and licensing bodies try to predict it based on some general measures such as critical thinking, personality, and emotional intelligence. This study aimed at providing a model to design the relationship between the constructs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-nine medical students participated in this study. A battery test devised that consist four parts: Clinical reasoning measures, personality NEO inventory, Bar-On EQ inventory, and California critical thinking questionnaire. All participants completed the tests. Correlation and multiple regression analysis consumed for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is low to moderate correlations between clinical reasoning and other variables. Emotional intelligence is the only variable that contributes clinical reasoning construct (r=0.17-0.34) (R(2) chnage = 0.46, P Value = 0.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although, clinical reasoning can be considered as a kind of thinking, no significant correlation detected between it and other constructs. Emotional intelligence (and its subscales) is the only variable that can be used for clinical reasoning prediction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Sciences, School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Isfahan University, Medical Education Research Center, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ashoorion
authors.forename: Mohammad Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Liaghatdar
authors.forename: Peyman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Adibi
keywords: Clinical reasoning; critical thinking; emotional intelligence; personality