Case Report Guide

This is meant to be a resource guide to get you started. This guide can be used as a reference for you and your Site Director to go over together to get started on your case report.

Case Reports In Naturopathic Medicine Example

Writing a medical case report contributes meaningful knowledge about a rare disease or unusual presentation of illness to other practitioners in the field. Robust case reports pertaining to naturopathic medical cases are integral in the efforts to further the credibility of the profession. Evidence-based research holds significant weight in the current medical culture and case reports (due to a flexible format) lend themselves to reporting on holistic health topics.

What is a case report?

A report of a single case of disease, typically describing an unusual or rare occurrence. The case report usually describes findings, clinical course, and prognosis, which is accompanied by a review of other cases already documented in biomedical literature to put the case in context.

When to write a case report?

Case reports should contribute new information to the medical field. Each journal has its own criteria for publication. Remember to investigate the requirements for the specific publication(s) if you are intending to submit your case report. Choosing a journal can be tricky, make sure that the one you pick regularly publishes case reports.

Helpful tips:

Break the case report draft into appropriate sections and start with bullet points
Read case reports from the publication you are applying to-- this can give you an idea of the caliber of work and language they expect
Reference the CARE case report checklist

Links to Resources:

How to Videos

Other videos you may find helpful are part of a Case Report Micro-Course at NUNM (created via NCCIH-funded BRIDG research training program) and include modules on "Constructing Your Case Report." Exercises for each video are also posted within each topic for greater integration of the material. Note, some exercises are more research-oriented, others more clinical. Instructions to self-register and access the course materials are here:

1. Go to: https://research.nunm.edu

2. Select "New account"

3. Complete information

4. Respond to email notification to verify account (check your SPAM too)

5. Log-in to the page

6. Select "BRIDG Program Micro-Course in CIH Case Reports" from the bottom

7. Enter enrollment key: "casereports"

8. Access materials