Increased interactive format for Morbidity & Mortality conference improves educational value and enhances confidence.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Surgical Training
• Continuing Medical Education

Background:

• Mortality and Morbidity (M&M) conferences are integral to surgical residency training.
• Optimizing educational opportunities is crucial due to reduced resident work hours.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if increasing perceived educational value in M&M conferences correlates with enhanced resident confidence.
• To identify specific M&M conference features associated with greater perceived educational value and confidence.

Main Methods:

• Prospective collection of educational process variables for 47 surgical M&M cases over 16 weeks.
• General surgery residents (PGY1-5) completed surveys rating case educational value and impact on confidence.
• Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to assess relationships between process variables and outcomes.

Main Results:

• Increased perceived educational value was significantly associated with increased resident confidence (p < 0.001).
• Factors enhancing perceived educational value included audience questioning, case explanations, use of slides/radiology, and tailored teaching points for medical students.
• Increased resident confidence was linked to audience questioning, case explanations, and questioning of attending physicians.

Conclusions:

• Audience interaction, not direct presenter questioning, improves surgical residents' perceived educational value and confidence.
• M&M conference moderators can enhance educational effectiveness by fostering audience engagement.