A medical case study is a method of research that comprises of detailed study of an individual’s medical treatment or history. It is a comprehensive account of the mental state, behaviors, life events, physical illnesses and their cause, thought process and other attributes that may seem significant.
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Medical Case Study Overview
Medical case studies are carried out mainly on cases of unusual diagnosis or ones that require a complicated treatment. Medical case studies follow a particular format of writing and are usually submitted to medical journals seeking publication. To be able to generate a good medical case study, you will have to marry up with physicians and colleagues to collect information on the patient you wish to study about and also to receive proper consent for publishing the study. Having known what essentially a medical case study is, let is delve deeper into finer nuances of writing a good medical case study.
Medical Case Study Preparation Steps
The following are general steps of make preparation before writing your medical case study. Here are few tips on how to write a medical case study:
Know the topics that you need to avoid: The topic of the case study decides the merit of your case study later on. It is wise to choose topics that have some substance and will interest a reader. Few topics to avoid include:
- Ones out of your field of interest
- Ones that sound repetitive
- Ones that have found a place in journals before
- Ones that do not convey the contents clearly
- Ones that have conflicting opinions in the medical community
- Ones that are beyond the scope of your education
Select the case wisely. Keep a track of patients who have been diagnosed with rare illnesses. Such cases stand good chances of publication. At the same time, keep an eye on the treatment plans that have rolled out unexpected outcomes, whether positive or negative. Seek advice of senior physicians on patients who have been diagnosed with unusual medical conditions and would make an interesting case study. Physicians who have been working on the patients can be a valuable source of information in such cases.
Research the case. Get hold of current literature on treatment or diagnosis of the particular condition that forms the focal point of your case study. To get your hands on such literature, you can seek the assistance of library staff of the hospital. They are the best guys to help you find books or journal articles which can give you the latest information on your topic of interest. This information can be a vital element of your case study.
Collecting information with patient consent. It is mandated by medical ethics that the patient being researched upon through the medical case study gives a written consent for the same. Obtain the consent form from the journal you wish to submit your case study to and get it signed by the subject of your study. Give as much information about the patient as possible such as age, demographics, past diagnoses etc. Do collect copies of lab reports, clinical photos or radiographs.
Medical Case Study Format
When writing medical case study, it is important to know the layout and format of medical case study. Your medical case study needs to have the following key part:
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Case Presentation
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- References
These tips on how to write a medical case study will go a long way in enabling you to produce an interesting and useful case study that will find a rightful place in a reputed journal. Be sure to be as accurate in your case study as possible because your efforts may form the cornerstone of a subsequent medical breakthrough.