Intakes conference: understanding the impact of resident autonomy on a morning report conference

Morning report (MR) is one of the most common conferences in medical residency training. Literature has suggested that an imposed structure is necessary for success. However, studies have suggested that rigid structure may decrease resident motivation. Three goals of a successful MR include large breadth of presented cases, high resident participation, and well-formatted presentations.

In this article, we present a qualitative case analysis of an unstructured resident- led MR and analyze breadth of cases, resident participation, and presentation format.

We collected data that included case presentation tracking, video recording conferences, and interviewing residents and faculty.

Case presentations covered a broad range of topics with little duplication (2.2%). Residents preformed most (94%) of presentations; most residents (92.3%) presented cases. Case presentations were structured in 1 of 3 formats that fulfilled suggested guidelines from MR literature.

In this unstructured MR conference, structural aims were met with the relatively autonomous decisions of motivated resident participants.