Morning report: a survey of Iranian senior faculty attitudes

Abstract

Morning report (MR) is a universal component of internal medicine training. Despite its omnipresence, little is known about senior faculty attitudes toward MR. We aimed to survey expert attitudes towards MR. Using an 85-item self-administered questionnaire, we made a survey of medical education-trained faculty members (FMs) who participated in and presented articles at the Seventh National Iranian Congress on Medical Education, 12–15 November 2005, Tabriz, Iran, on the processes of teaching and learning during MR (n = 175). Among the 111 FMs (63.4%) who completed the survey, education was the most frequently cited goal of the MR. Clinical wisdom and the ability to expand a resident’s differential diagnosis skills were the attributes most often proposed as essential for the FMs. Respondents believed the FM in cooperation with the senior resident of the last duty (41%) or the senior resident of the last duty alone (40%) should select the presenting cases. The study participants stated that 41% of the MR should be spent discussing common cases, 33% in the area of expertise of the FM and 26% in discussing rare or interesting cases. A common opinion was that treatment recommendations should be based on the medical literature. In terms of the educational impact of activities during the MR, listing differential diagnoses and bedside visits to examine unique findings scored the highest. Education as the main goal of the MR can best be achieved by expanding residents’ skills in differential diagnosis and in making decisions using an evidence-based, self-directed method.