Teaching cases (20-30 minutes)
Cases are designed to be a diagnostic or management challenge modeled after standard morning report format. In preparation for facilitating, read the entire post to become familiar with the case, Q&As, and take home points. The final clinical diagnosis is listed along the right sidebar to make selecting a case easier for the facilitator.
However, once you click the link the case will simply be titled as the chief complaint to avoid any spoilers for the learners. If possible, display the case on a screen large enough for all the learners to see clearly. The most awkward part is presenting the HPI. We have found it best to have one of the learners read the HPI aloud to the rest of the group. The case will progress with occasional interruptions for questions to pose to the group (hyperlinked answers are available).
The Q&As are provided to supplement whatever natural discussion is developing, ignore them or improvise however you like. Occasionally, there is a brief chalk talk at the end that is most easily reproduced if you have seen it given before, but in the future there will be a link to a complete script for the chalk talks, broke up in stages with written instruction on how to reproduce them.
Clinical images (5 minutes)
An image or video is accompanied by a brief clinical intro and a teaching point. These are designed as a short introduction to a teaching session, such as a “warm-up” at during morning report, or just before rounds.
Chalk talks and other topic-based presentations (20-30 minutes)
Presentations structured to provide a framework for approaching a differential or complicated management, often followed by brief practice vignettes to solidify the teaching. For most of the posts, there will be diagrams of the initial board set-up and subsequent stages of the chalk talk accompanied by teaching scripts to explain the intended thought process and major teaching points. These require significantly more preparation and review time than the teaching cases and images.
The web page itself will function well as the teaching platform for some of these posts, others will be best taught by actively drawing out the diagrams. Be sure to start with clearly stated objectives and end with 2-3 take home points. Please adapt the presentation as you like and contact us with any recommendations or feedback.
