CanadieEM - September 01, 2020 - By Sophie Ramsden
"Presenting a case in the ED is important for a number of reasons. Not only does better communication result in better patient care, but it’s also a great learning opportunity and your chance as a clerk to impress your attending. Presenting a case well conveys your level of knowledge and understanding to an attending, which allows them to accurately assess and teach to your weaknesses. It also illustrates that you can create a complete diagnostic and management plan for a patient, while prioritizing dangerous diagnoses and critical next steps. Even if you know everything there is to know about abdominal pain and asked all of the right questions, if you can’t present a case thoroughly but concisely, your attending won’t be able to appreciate that.
Whether you’re brand new to the ED or a well-oiled emergency medicine machine, check out our essential resources for key tips on presenting a case. If you’re interested in a deeper dive into case presentations and some of the evidence supporting different teaching styles, scroll a little further...