Searching for medical evidence

ACP National Abstracts Competition

Creating posters

Creating slide shows

Grand rounds preparation

Writing articles in general

Writing meta-analyses

Writing quality improvement articles

Writing case reports for articles and posters

Consider focusing the report on one aspect of the case and systematically reviewing literature relevant to that one aspect. This extra effort would create knowledge more likely to help other clinicians and be published. Examples of this type of report are:

• This case report and review limited to online textbooks and RCTs: Soares-Weiser K, Paul M, Brezis M, Leibovici L. Evidence based case report. Antibiotic treatment for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. BMJ. 2002;324;(7329)100-2. PMID: 11786457
• This case report and review limited to other case reports and case series: Lao L, Hamilton GR, Fu J, Berman BM. Is acupuncture safe? A systematic review of case reports. Altern Ther Health Med. 2003;9;(1)72-83. PMID: 12564354
• This case report and review was quite thorough and was published in a major journal: George JN, Raskob GE, Shah SR, Rizvi MA, Hamilton SA, Osborne S et al.. Drug-induced thrombocytopenia: a systematic review of published case reports. Ann Intern Med. 1998;129;(11)886-90. PMID: 9867731
• Helpful information if you are reporting an adverse drug reaction: Clarifying Adverse Drug Events: A Clinician's Guide to Terminology, Documentation, and Reporting. Ann. Intern. Med 2004;140(10):795-801 PMID: 15148066

(the below links require free registration for studentBMJ)