[The morning report - an important item in the training of psychiatrists in residence at psychiatric hospitals].

BACKGROUND: In this article we focus on the role, function and composition of the morning report in the training of psychiatrists in residence at psychiatric hospitals. We also pay attention to the way in which the case should be presented in the morning report.

AIM: To make some proposals regarding ways in which the efficiency of the morning report and the case presented in that report can be improved.

METHOD: We studied currently available literature and publications about the morning report and we also drew on our own experience with the morning report.

RESULTS: We found very few publications that dealt specifically with morning report in the psychiatric teaching hospital. However, our studies have shown that the morning report should not be regarded purely as an instrument for passing on care details about the patient; it should also be seen as an essential link in the chain of instruction required by trainee psychiatrist. On the basis of rhetoric, constructivism and social-constructionism, we present a model for case presentation.

CONCLUSION: Making improvements in the quality of the morning report is an important way of contributing to the learning process of trainee psychiatrists and staff members and should therefore enhance the status of the psychiatric hospital as a teaching community.