Morning Report Blog: A Web-Based Tool to Enhance Case-Based Learning

BACKGROUND: Morning report is an interactive case-based teaching session common to internal medicine training programs across North America. DESCRIPTION: We report here on a morning report web log ("blog"), created and updated after morning report sessions by the Chief Medical Resident with pertinent clinical topics, links to journal articles, and medical images. Trainees on their internal medicine rotation were e-mailed a web link with each posting. The aim was to enhance learning on clinical topics discussed at morning report by reinforcing topics and promoting further reading. EVALUATION: The educational impact of the blog was evaluated using detailed web metrics and surveys of attendees. The intended audience spent on average more than 5 min reading the blog and viewed more than 3 pages per visit. Almost half of attendees accessed the blog after completing their internal medicine rotation. The blog was also accessed by a global audience. Trainees rated the blogs a useful learning tool and cited it to be among the top 3 educational resources accessed during their rotation. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, a morning report blog was perceived by learners to be an effective complement to case-based teaching sessions. The combination of novel web metrics and survey data allowed for a multifaceted evaluation of the educational impact of the blog.