Explaination of Case Flow

  

Photo taken by a friend of Dr. Haus's

The sharing of educational materials is a large inspiration for this blog and the case series I am developing is the first type of education materials I plan on creating for this blog.  I want to outline the format for the cases so everyone can take part in this great opportunity to try, learn, and grow!

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The goal for the cases is for everyone to practice and learn.  This will be done through spending 3 days of blog posts to work through cases.  I highly recommend working through the cases with friends, family, pets, frenemies, mortal enemies, the wall, your invisible friend, etc.  The more you talk through these cases the more you will learn and the more you will be able to practice important skills such as problem-solving, communicating science, and thinking like a clinician. 

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I will be creating these blog posts to be accessible to anyone regardless of their scientific background.  All materials will be presented for three different levels to accommodate any learner at any stage of their journey. 

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If you have any cases, topics, or concepts that you want covered please comment them on the blog for inspiration!  Got an upcoming physiology exam and you have no idea what is going on with the renal system?  Let me know and I will put together materials to help!

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Now, let's jump in to understand the Case Flow!

Test Case Tuesday

On test case Tuesday, the initial information related to the patient's case will be shared.  Keep in mind, the species are not what is important - the important part is understanding the science behind the condition.  Animals are not as different from each other or humans as you may think.  If you are interested in veterinary medicine that is great.  If you are interested in human medicine that is great too - our pathophysiology/physiology is not all that different (especially amongst mammals).

At the end of test case Tuesday, you will not know the diagnosis of the patient but can take the time to create your differentials list and get excited for the Thoughtful Thursday blog post.  This is a great time to talk about the case with other people/animals/inanimate objects.

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Thoughtful Thursday

On thoughtful Thursday, the diagnosis and basic pathophysiology of the disease will be shared along with questions for each of the different levels of learning.  This is another great time to talk through the questions and answers.  You should take the time to think about how you would communicate this information to people of different scientific backgrounds especially if you are a "science person".  The medicine is the easy part, the hard part is communicating.

I believe much of the distrust of medical/science folks comes from our history of feeling as if we don't need to explain anything and that people should just blindly trust us.  That is not what we need to be doing as a scientific field - we need to work hard to practice communicating scientific information to folks without a scientific background.

Think about the cases, think about your answers, and take the time to look up any information you need to better understand the case, the questions, and the concepts.

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Conclusion Caturday

On Conclusion Caturday I will post the answers to the questions and links to further information based on the different levels of learning.  Take advantage of this time to check your answers, look up further information, and discuss this information with others.  I firmly believe you truly understand something when you can explain it to someone who does not have a strong foundation in the subject.

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Enjoy these cases as much as I enjoy creating them!