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A student guide to writing a case report

BDJ Student volume 30, pages 12–13 (2023)Cite this article

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As a student, it can be hard to know where to start when reading or writing a clinical case report either for university or out of special interest in a Journal. I have collated five top tips for writing an insightful and relevant case report.

A case report is a structured report of the clinical process of a patient's diagnostic pathway, including symptoms, signs, diagnosis, treatment planning (short and long term), clinical outcomes and follow-up.1 Some of these case reports can sometimes have simple titles, to the more unusual, for example, 'Oral Tuberculosis', 'The escapee wisdom tooth', 'A difficult diagnosis'. They normally begin with the word 'Sir' and follow an introduction from this.

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References

  1. Guidelines To Writing a Clinical Case Report. Heart Views 2017; 18, 104-105.

  2. British Dental Journal. Case reports. Available online at: www.nature.com/bdj/articles?searchType=journalSearch&sort=PubDate&type=case-report&page=2 (accessed August 17, 2022).

  3. Chate R, Chate C. Achenbach's syndrome. Br Dent J 2021; 231: 147.

  4. Abdulgani A, Muhamad, A-H and Watted N. Dental case report for publication; step by step. J Dent Med Sci 2014; 3: 94-100.

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  1. Queen´s University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom

    Maeve McAllister

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  1. Maeve McAllister
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Correspondence to Maeve McAllister.

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McAllister, M. A student guide to writing a case report. BDJ Student 30, 12–13 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41406-023-0925-y

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