Documenting the educational content of morning report

D. M. D'Alessandro
Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, USA.

OBJECTIVES: To document the educational content of a pediatric morning report and to determine if it represents a curriculum. SETTING: A midwestern, tertiary care, pediatric training program. DESIGN: A prospective, observational study was conducted of case presentations discussed during pediatric morning report from July 1995 through July 1996. Presented cases were analyzed for demographics, clinical venues where patients were encountered, case diagnoses, and ensuing discussion. RESULTS: Morning report by study criteria was considered a curriculum. A wide variety of patient ages (aged from birth to 41 years) and all clinical venues were represented. A broad spectrum of diagnoses covered 30 of 31 Pediatrics Review and Education Program (American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, Ill) Content Specification headings and most (72%) of the Educational Objectives listed (N = 977 [72%]). The most common topic areas were infectious diseases (n = 137 [18.2%]), disorders of the blood/neoplasms (n = 85 [11.2%]), neurological disorders (n = 57 [7.5%]), genetics or dysmorphology (n = 56 [7.4%]), and gastrointestinal tract disorders (n = 44 [5.8%]). Top discussion categories were patient clinical presentation (n = 399 [19.6%]), evaluation (n = 375 [18.4%]), and management (n = 377 [18.5%]). CONCLUSIONS: Morning report represents a curriculum in a pediatric residency training program. It can be used effectively to address nontraditional or rarely discussed topics that are important to the overall professional development of pediatric residents.