The artfully delivered case report is a valuable method of communicating discovery and caution to colleagues. Ensuring residents hone this skill, in part, is the aim of the Clinical Vignette Competition sponsored by the American College of Physicians. The Iowa Chapter of ACP hosted its competition in order to decide which finalist to send to the national ACP Internal Medicine Meeting next April in New Orleans.

Good luck to all our residents in today’s ACP Iowa Chapter Clinical Vignette Competition today! pic.twitter.com/xURFvq3r7q

— Int Med at Iowa (@IntMedatIowa) September 20, 2017

A number of different types of cases can make for a good presentation, and that variety was on display last Wednesday afternoon during the 25 presentations. Unusual infections, jaundices, rare embolisms, mysterious swellings, over-the-counter overdosing, and more than a few clever puns made their way in front of the panels of judges.

Last vignette of the day! Dr. Ludgate passes on an FDA warning about loperamide abuse. pic.twitter.com/JoOADalicF

— Int Med at Iowa (@IntMedatIowa) September 20, 2017

Each presentation was set for ten minutes and followed with five minutes for questions from the judges. Just as with last year’s competition, all the presenters conducted themselves competently and confidently, and many audience members reported learning a few lessons that would come in handy during future shifts.

After a tough deliberation the panel of judges settled on four residents to advance to Monday’s noon conference for a final round of competition. They were:

(R3) Dr. Casey Adams: “New Murmur in an Immune-Compromised Patient.”
Mentor: Dr. Robert Weiss

(R3) Dr. Justin Chau: “What Is DRESS Without the Drug?”
Mentor: Dr. Boulos Nassar

(R2) Dr. Chris Koehn: “A Cholestatic Conundrum: Painless Jaundice in a Young Male.”
Mentor: Dr. Varun Monga

(R2) Dr. Jeremy Steinman: “Long Ago in a Galaxy Fahr, Fahr Away.”
Mentor: Dr. Katie Harris

Following the noon conference, Dr. Manish Suneja, Internal Medicine Residency Director, announced that Dr. Chau’s engaging and informative presentation was the winner. Dr. Suneja made a particular point of congratulating all the participants and thanking their mentors for the amazing presentations on display.

Congratulations to all the residents for their hard work and good luck to Dr. Chau in New Orleans!

CORRECTION: Dr. Chau will compete against two other Iowa Vignette finalists, Dr. Candice Schlafmann of Des Moines Iowa Methodist Medical Center and Dr. Linsdey Rearigh of Des Moines Mercy, on October 5 at the formal Iowa Chapter ACP Meeting. The winner of that competition will go to the national competition in New Orleans.