ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a format for formal case presentations that is organized on the principles of the patient-centered clinical method. The traditional format of the case presentation that evolved during the time of Sir William Osler was recognized very early as a valuable tool in the teaching of medicine. The conventional case history or report has been criticized for being heavily dependent on scientific language, which, although seemingly precise, leaves much of reality aside. The association between use of calcium channel blockers and pedal edema is well documented in medical literature and it is believed to be secondary to a local vasodilator phenomenon. In day-to-day clinical work in the office or ward, it is necessary to use a shortened form of case presentation while continuing to emphasize the values of patient-centered medicine. Case presentations can be viewed as “highly conventionalized linguistic rituals” that serve to socialize physicians in training to a particular worldview.
