"Doing cases"

In health disciplines, the main real-world application for the knowledge and skills that students gain in our classrooms can be found in clinical settings. The culmination of most programs takes place in their internship components. Indeed, many programs are moving towards earlier introduction to clinical and work settings or attempting to simulate them in the classroom. Simultaneously, logistical difficulties make it difficult to do so, and limitations on the amount of clinical exposure that is possible in a given timeframe make it necessary to introduce patient cases in a classroom setting.

...which is why most of us devote at least some time in the classroom to "doing cases".

But what does "doing cases" consist of? This might represent different things to different teachers. For many of us it means presenting a data set about a patient in the form of a chart, a small vignette or other clinical "artifacts" with a list of questions for students to work through, either on their own or in a group, at home or in the classroom. Many variations are possible with this simple design, but how closely does it represent the real clinical challenges students will face?

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