A Survey of Resident Attitudes

fective questions (86%), and good interpersonal skills (84%) were identified as the most important attending physicians' attributes. Discussions of basic science, use of anecdotes, and subspecialty knowledge were not considered highly desirable characteristics. Attending physicians with limited knowledge (41%) were viewed as the major obstacle to effective teaching while provocative attending physicians (52%) were considered as being most valuable to the learning experience. Conclusions: Residents believed that the morning report was a valuable educational experience. They preferred clinically based, open-ended interactive discussions led by attending physicians with a broad knowledge base. These findings underscore the importance of morning report in general, and the role of attending physicians in particular, in medical education. (Arch Intern Med. 1995;155:1433-1437)