Instructions for authors[1]
Challenging Cases and Images
EBIM educational platform welcomes the submission of challenging cases or images that an internist may encounter in clinical practice and is of interest to a broad audience of internists and trainees in internal medicine.
The cases should be developed according to the way they present themselves in everyday practice and in the end should demonstrate the appropriateness of a diagnostic and/or therapeutic approach.
Recommended Case format:
- Length: we recommend 1500 words maximum (not including references).
- Title: must include the patient’s age and gender, followed by one or more of his or her presenting symptoms (example: “58-Year-Old Man With Fever and Headache”)
- Initial paragraph: should briefly introduce the patient’s presenting complaints, history and physical findings.
- Multiple Choice Questions are the backbone of each case.
- Questions format:
- Questions should pertain to specific aspects of the medical evaluation and emphasize basic issues that would be useful to trainees and internists in general.
- Avoid factoid questions that can be answered without knowing the case or previous evaluation
- Select 3-5 questions, each followed by four possible responses.
- Questions are presented in a logical order, usually in the following sequence: initial differential diagnosis, testing and laboratory studies, final diagnosis, treatment, natural history and /or prognosis.
- Questions should solicit a single best answer. Avoid “all of the following except,” “all of the above,” and “none of the above.”
- Following each question, explain each answer in the exact order as it was listed in the question. The explanation should briefly clarify, in a sentence or two, why each answer is correct or incorrect. Avoid long discussion here, save for the Discussion section.
- At the end of the text following each question, you must link back to the patient, with at least one sentence, before proceeding to the next question. If applicable additional information can be provided as the case develops.
- Discussion: section should briefly summarize key points of the medical diagnosis or provide a learning point related to the case.
- References: Authors are encouraged to perform appropriate literature search. In general, there should be no more than 5 references at the end of the report, Vancouver Style.
- Patient consent: Evidence of patient consent to publish must be provided for any photograph that shows a patient’s face or other information that might identify the patient.
Recommended Image format:
- Title: must include the patient’s age and gender, followed by one or more of his or her presenting symptoms (example: “58-Year-Old Man With Fever and Headache”)
- Relevant clinical history: should briefly introduce the patient’s presenting complaints, history and physical findings (max 150 words)
- Pictures: use jpg, jepg, png or tiff figures, with a resolution of at least 72 dpi. Please make sure they are clear. If there are more than one picture, rename the pictures accordingly (Fig1, Fig2, etc.)
- Question format:
- Question should pertain to specific aspects of the image and emphasize basic issues that would be useful to trainees and internists in general.
- Question should be followed by 4-5 possible responses.
- Question should solicit a single best answer. Avoid “all of the following except,” “all of the above,” and “none of the above.”
- Answer format: the explanation should briefly clarify, in a sentence or two, what the correct answer is, followed by why the other answers were incorrect and explain each answer in the exact order as it was listed in the question.
- References: authors are encouraged to support their observations with appropriate literature; in general, there should be no more than 5 references, Vancouver Style.
- Patient consent: Evidence of patient consent to publish must be provided for any photograph that shows a patient’s face or other information that might identify the patient.
All submissions (and inquiries) should be sent to ebimintheloop@gmail.com.
Editors:
Kladoum Nassarmadji – nassklaodio@yahoo.fr
Friederike Bennett – friederikebennett@gmail.com
[1] Adapted from Mayo Clinic Proceedings Resident Clinic