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. 2003 Aug;18(8):656-8.
doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20824.x.

Morbidity and mortality conference: a survey of academic internal medicine departments

Jay D Orlander  1 , B Graeme Fincke
Affiliations

Morbidity and mortality conference: a survey of academic internal medicine departments

Jay D Orlander et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2003 Aug.

Abstract

This study sought to determine the prevalence and characteristics of morbidity and mortality conferences (M&MCs) in U.S. internal medicine training programs. Two hundred ninety-five of 416 (71%) surveys were returned. Ninety percent of programs have an M&MC. Most meet monthly, have a designated leader, and entail case discussions of 3 or fewer patients. Cases are selected on the basis of unexpected bad outcomes, teaching value, and to a lesser extent, suspected medical error. Two thirds of the sites use M&MCs to meet administrative requirements for quality assurance. M&MC, while prevalent in internal medicine training programs, has a heterogeneity of focus. Hence, the goals and role of the conference, as judged by this survey, do not appear to be well defined and may warrant further clarification.

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Comment in

  • Seeing error through new lenses.
    Weingart SN. Weingart SN. J Gen Intern Med. 2003 Aug;18(8):675-6. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.30614.x. J Gen Intern Med. 2003. PMID: 12911652 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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