Background
The daily morning report session for the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth Internal Medicine Residency Program uses the traditional format of case presentation and discussion. This commonly-used approach to morning report has relatively low learner attendance and perceived individual engagement and topics are derived from a limited pool of recently admitted cases. To improve engagement, material exposure, and perceived learning efficacy, we implemented a weekly competitive quiz session designed to review material presented previously.
Methods
The Friday morning report session was changed to a weekly quiz game, called “Follow-up Friday” with trainees forming small groups of 3-4 people from different levels of training. Using their smartphones and presentation software available from “Mentimeter.com,” learners engaged in a competitive quiz with questions derived from cases and material presented earlier in the week as well as older material that they had found challenging from prior quizzes and the in-service training exam.
Results
Implemented in July 2021, this session was delivered to over 150 trainees including medical students and trainees rotating through the internal medicine department. When surveyed, internal medicine trainees of all year-groups indicated a strong perception that the Follow-Up Friday session improved engagement, material exposure, and learning efficacy.
Discussion
Modifying the morning report format to include well-established educational concepts was simple to implement and very well received by learners. This study was limited by a small sample size and a design that included only subjective outcomes from the learners.
Conclusion
Follow-Up Friday employed time-spaced learning, recall practice, and interleaving of topics resulting in improved learner engagement, material exposure, and perceived learning efficacy. This simple and effective format warrants continued use and may be of benefit to other training programs.