Gardner’s Multiple-Intelligences Profile and Its Relationship with Academic Performance (Students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences/Academic Year 2014-2015)

Background: Gardner’s Multiple-Intelligences profile can serve as a powerful instrument for assessment of learners' abilities and aptitudes. The present study aimed to obtain the Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences profile of students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (TUOMS) in the academic year 2014-2015 and examine its relationship with their academic performance. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-correlational study was conducted on medical, nursing and midwifery students of TUOMS in the academic year 2014-2015. Data was collected by administering Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scales to 150 subjects selected by non-probability convenience sampling. Academic performance of students was evaluated by their average grades. Data was analyzed by SPSS19 using multiple regression. Results: Medical students scored highest in existential intelligence (18.42 ± 4.67) and intrapersonal intelligence (16.74 ± 4.15) and scored lowest in musical intelligence (12.54 ± 3.99) and bodily intelligence (13.66 ± 4.46). Regression analysis showed that verbal intelligence (P= 0.004, β = 0.392) and existential intelligence (P= 0.014, β = -0.327) were the only Gardner intelligence components that can explain the students' academic performance with statistical significance. Conclusion: The results showed that among Gardner’s Multiple-Intelligences, existential, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and verbal intelligence contribute the most to the selection of medical sciences as the path of education, and that verbal intelligence is associated with academic success. The results of this study can be employed as an applied knowledge to improve the quality of education counseling to be provided for future medical students.