First Year Medical Student Authorship of Clinical Cases

Getting the diagnosis right is a critical skill for a physician and learning this skill should start early in a medical student's training. To this end, students in their first year at William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine must write and orally present an original clinical case on an assigned topic as a part of their medical biochemistry course. At the first of the 2016 spring semester the class was randomly divided into groups of three and each group assigned a unique topic consistent with the content covered in the course. The group was then asked to write an original clinical presentation of a new patient along with a listing of four possible diagnoses. This case was distributed to the entire class without a final diagnosis and the class voted via clicker slide on the final diagnosis after the group presented their case and the four diagnostic possibilities. The group then explained/justified their differential, decided on the diagnosis, described treatment and prognosis, and briefly explained the underlying biochemical basis of the disease/disorder. Assessment of the written and oral components was via rubric and comprised 10% of the student grade for the semester. The final exam was derived completely from aspects of the student‐authored cases, bringing accountability to the class for their own work as well as those of their classmates. The average grade on the final was the highest exam average of the entire year, suggesting a high level of mastery of the thirty‐six clinical cases authored by the students.