Starting clinical rotations is an exciting — yet intimidating — time when we finally begin hands-on training to become doctors. I remember being so excited to apply the material that I had learned through lectures and flashcards to real patients; however, during my internal medicine rotation, I quickly realized there is more to medicine than examining a patient and coming up with a diagnosis.
Being able to present patients to other team members via an oral case presentation is as important as memorizing the pathophysiology of common diseases. What I did not realize was how challenging it would be to learn how to give an effective oral presentation. It was much like learning a new language — confusing, awkward and clunky. As I progressed through my clerkships, I learned practical strategies to improve my oral presentations, and I want to share these skills with other students to ease their transition into the clinical setting.
The downloadable infographic is the result of my goal to create a resource, backed by literature, from the perspective of a medical student to help other students become fluent in the “language” of oral case presentations at the start of any clerkship rotation. This resource is meant to be a reference that is easy for medical students to access, read and understand throughout their clerkship years. I hope this will help you present to your team in a formal, standardized and clear format and capitalize on the opportunity to showcase your knowledge and hard work.
Download the infographic here.
Image courtesy of Elizabeth Konon
Contributing Writer
The University of Colorado School of Medicine
Elizabeth Konon is a fourth year medical student at The University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Colorado class of 2023. In 2018, she graduated from The University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in global health. She enjoys playing tennis, hiking, and skiing in her free time. After graduating medical school, Elizabeth would like to pursue a career in academic internal medicine.