Clinical Vignettes

Clinical Vignettes

Clinical vignettes are patient-related cases and scenarios that have educational value for a wider audience. Submissions should be based on patients for whom at least one of the author(s) had cared during the course of the patient’s illness. Clinical vignettes should:

  • Describe clinical conditions that illustrate unique or important teaching points.
  • Provide insight into clinical practice, education, or research in either outpatient or hospital settings.
  • Illustrate important clinical problems commonly encountered by internists, such as diagnostic, therapeutic, or management dilemmas, including those complicated by the social determinants of health.
  • Include a discussion of relevant literature, as if submitting the vignette for peer-reviewed publication, but they are not meant for presentation of scientific or research data.

KEY DATES SUBMISSION WEBSITE SUBMISSION FAQ

November 16, 2017: Round Two Submission opens ($75)
December 7, 2017 9:00 AM ET: Submission fee increases ($85)
January 4, 2018 9:00 AM ET: Submission closes
February 8, 2018: Acceptance notifications emailed
February 15, 2018: Early Registration Deadline
February 17: 2018: RSVP Invitations due



Peer Review Criteria


 

January 9, 2018: Peer Review Period Opens
January 23, 2018 9:00 AM ET: Peer Review Period Closes



Peer Review Criteria

Panels of SGIM member volunteers will review blinded submissions. Clinical Vignette submissions will be ranked using the following criteria:

  1. Important Clinical Problem: To what extent does the abstract illustrate an important clinical problem(s) commonly encountered by internists, such as diagnostic, therapeutic, or management dilemma?
  2. Insight into Clinical Practice, Education, or Research: To what extent does the abstract provide insight into clinical practice, education or research in either outpatient or hospital settings?
  3. Relevance to General Internal Medicine: To what extent does the abstract offer a diagnosis, physical examination or management pearl that is important to general internists?
  4. Discussion on Relevant Literature: To what extent does the abstract include a discussion of relevant literature, as if submitting the vignette for peer-reviewed publication?
  5. Quality of Writing: Is the writing clear and organized to effectively communicate findings?

Peer Review Rubric

Peer Review Instructions



Submission Criteria


See Clinical Vignette submission criteria below.


Submission Length

Clinical Vignette submissions are limited to 3,000 characters, including spaces.

Maximum character count limit applies only to these sections:
  • Learning Objectives
  • Case
  • Impact
  • Discussion

Submission Structure

  1. Title (No all caps, quotes, underlining, or bolding.)
  2. Learning Objective(s):  Up to two focused learning objectives, stating what the physician should be able to do after learning from the case presentation. Objectives are action-oriented and should begin with words such as recognize, diagnose, assess, treat, distinguish or manage. They should NOT begin with terms like know how to or understand.  Examples:  
    • Diagnose hip fracture when the plain x-rays are normal 
    • Recognize the clinical features of anorexia and bulimia in a male 
    • Assess health literacy in at-risk populations
  3. Case:   Briefly summarize the case presentation.  Include history of present illness, pertinent positives and negatives, key social history, past medical history, family history, and medications, pertinent physical exam findings, pertinent diagnosis studies, and interventions.  Highlight key elements from clinical course.  
  4. Impact: Please address one of the questions in no more than 500 characters, including spaces. 
    • How did this case change your thinking?
    • How did this case change my practice?
    • What does this case add to the literature?
  5. Discussion:  A concise discussion, highlighting important facts, or teaching points gleaned from the case and/or review of the literature. Authors should use the learning objectives and discussion to illustrate the unique teaching points, as if submitting the vignette for peer-reviewed publication.

Additional Submission Details

  1. Presentation Format Preference (Oral Presentation Only, Poster Presentation Only or No Preference. See below.)
  2. Primary Category (See below.)
  3. Secondary Category (Optional. See below.)
  4. Scheduling Restrictions (Optional. See below.)
  5. Theme Related Submission (Does this submission content relate to the meeting theme? This information is not part of the peer review process. If accepted, your response may impact the scheduling of your presentation. Yes/No)
  6. Clinical Unknown (Mystery Diagnosis) or Clinical (Logical) Reasoning Case Participation (Optional. See below.)
  7. Poster Walk-Through Participation (Optional. See below.)
  8. Non-Commercial Funding Source (Optional. See below.)
  9. Accuracy (Confirm accuracy of information submitted.)
  10. Policy Verification (Confirm understanding of Submission Policies & Presenter Register Policy.)
  11. Authors (Name, Institution, City/State, Email)

Presentation Format

Identify your preference for presentation format:

  • Oral Presentation Only
  • Poster Presentation Only
  • No Preference

Format choice matters:

  • SGIM schedules accepted submissions based on the results of the peer review process. The most highly rated submissions are scheduled for an oral presentation followed by those rated highly enough for presentation as posters.
  • We recommend stipulating “no preference”, as it will increase the likelihood of your submission being accepted.
  • If you stipulate “oral presentation only” and your submission is only ranked highly enough for a poster presentation, you will receive a rejection notification.
  • Submissions funded through direct commercial support should select “poster only” as their choice, as poster sessions do not offer CME credit hours.

Primary Submission Categories (Clinical Vignettes)

Authors must choose ONE submission category.  This selection will NOT be known to vignette reviewers; categories are used to help organize presentation scheduling.

  • Cardiovascular Disease
  • Endocrinology and Metabolism
  • Gastroenterology and Hepatology
  • Women's Health
  • Hematology/Oncology
  • Immunology/Rheumatology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Mental Health
  • Nephrology
  • Neurology
  • Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
  • Substance Use/Chronic Pain

Secondary Submission Categories (Clinical Vignettes)

Optional. Choose one secondary submission category, if applicable:

  • Errors in Clinical Reasoning
  • Ethics
  • Geriatrics
  • Health Information Technology
  • HIV
  • Medication-related complications
  • Patient-centered care
  • Patient Safety

Poster Walk-Through Participation

Optional. If accepted for poster presentation, do we have your permission to schedule you to participate in a walk-through? A walk-through session will include an expert in your identified category bringing a small group of attendees around to discuss your work. (Yes/No)

Scheduling Restrictions for Presenting Authors

Optional. If accepted to present from Round One, please indicate scheduling restrictions below. Religious observance can also be indicated.

  • Religious Observance, cannot present on Wednesday
  • Religious Observance, cannot present on Thursday
  • Religious Observance, cannot present on Friday
  • Religious Observance, cannot present on Saturday
  • Session A: Wednesday 5:30 - 7:00 PM
  • Session B: Thursday 8:15-10:15 AM
  • Session C: Thursday 10:30 am -11:30 PM
  • Thursday Lunch: Thursday 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
  • Session D: Thursday 1:00 - 2:00 PM
  • Session E: Thursday 2:15 - 3:15 PM
  • Session F: Thursday 3:45 - 4:45 PM
  • Session G:Thursday 5:00 - 6:00 PM
  • Session H: Friday 8:15 - 10:15 PM
  • Session J: Friday 10:30 - 11:30 AM
  • Friday Lunch: Friday 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
  • Session K: Friday 1:00 - 2:00 PM
  • Session L: Friday 2:15 - 3:15 PM
  • Session M: Friday 3:45 - 4:45 PM
  • Session N: Friday 5:00 - 6:00 PM
  • Session O: Saturday 7:30 - 10:00 AM
  • Session P: Saturday 10:15-11:15 AM
  • Session Q: Saturday 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Non-Commercial Funding Source

Optional. Choose as many as apply:

  • AHRQ Funding
  • DOD Funding
  • NIH Funding
  • PCOR Research Grant
  • RWJ Foundation
  • VA Funding

The program committee reserves the right to use this information in scheduling.

Citations

Citations are not required nor requested for your Clinical Vignette submission.

  • They are optional, as space allows, and will be inclusive in the 3,000 character limit.

    Submission & Presentation Tips

    Designing a Poster 

    Topic and Intended Audience

    Know your topic and your intended audience:

    • Which attendees are your primary target audience?
    • Why is this important to them?
    • Will it stimulate excitement?
    • Is the topic timely?
    • Does it help audience members meet an urgent need? (e.g. accreditation issues)
    • How much time does your topic require?
    • Choose the most appropriate category for submission. Then identify as many tracks as you think apply.