If you feed them, they will come: A prospective study of the effects of complimentary food on attendance and physician attitudes at medical grand rounds at an academic medical center

In this prospective, before-and-after study, attendance at medical grand rounds was monitored from September 25, 2002, to June 2, 2004, using head counts. With unrestricted industry (eg, pharmaceutical) financial support, complimentary food was provided to medical grand rounds attendees beginning June 4, 2003. Attendance was compared during the pre-complimentary food and complimentary food periods. Attitudes about the complimentary food were assessed with use of a survey administered to attendees at the conclusion of the study period.The mean (± SD) overall attendance by head counts increased 38.4% from 184.1 ± 90.4 during the pre-complimentary food period to 254.8 ± 60.5 during the complimentary food period (P < .001). At the end of the study period, 70.1% of the attendee survey respondents indicated that they were more likely to attend grand rounds because of complimentary food, 53.6% indicated that their attendance increased as a result of complimentary food, and 53.1% indicated that their attendance would decrease if complimentary food was no longer provided. Notably, 80.3% indicated that food was not a distraction, and 81.7% disagreed that industry representatives had influence over medical grand rounds because of their financial support for the food.Providing free food may be an effective strategy for increasing attendance at medical grand rounds.Medical grand rounds (MGR) is a central teaching activity in US departments of medicine at academic medical centers. However, attendance at MGR by faculty, fellows, and residents appears to be waning even though the perceived quality of MGR is increasing [1-3]. This decrease in attendance, coupled with the considerable resources (eg, financial resources and time) invested in this activity, should cause MGR planners and continuing medical education (CME) providers to question why attendance is waning.Moore [4] described a 6-level approach for evaluating the value of CME. Each level is associated with an outcome: partic