Compliance of Morning Reports at Teaching Hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences with Standards of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (2015)

Introduction: Morning report is a long-lasting method in medical students' clinical education. This study was aimed to evaluate the structure and content of morning report sessions at teaching hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences in 2015 as well as their compliance with standards proposed by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.   

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in eight wards, having active morning reports, at three teaching hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. The data were collected by a two-section checklist, including structure and content. The validity of this scale was confirmed based on the opinions of experts, and its reliability was approved via inter-rater reliability. A total of 24 cases were observed and the obtained data were recorded. The recorded data were analyzed by SPSS.19 software using one-sample t-test. P<0.05 was considered significant for all tests.     

Results: As for the structure, the time of administration (100%), management of sessions (50%), venue, frequency, duration and stages of patient introduction (>50%), equipment, participants and patients' selection (<50%) were in compliance with the standards. With regard to the content, over 50% of effective interaction, atmosphere of meetings, fitness of the room with the number of participants, evidence and documentation and less than 50% of discussion content, holding evidence-based morning report, follow-up and evaluation were in line with the standards. 

Conclusion: In general, running morning report sessions at teaching hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences was in line with the standards announced by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Despite the overall conformity of running morning report at teaching hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences and appropriateness of most indices, several indices that are essential for holding this important educational conference were not fully in compliance with the standards. Considering the significance of clinical education in empowering the graduate physicians in the future, it is necessary for all indices of morning report sessions to be progressing and in line with the standards.