SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Clinical Vignette Boot Camps: Training Hospitalists to Flex Scholarly Muscles

Pdf Summary

This project evaluated whether short, in-person “Clinical Vignette Boot Camp” sessions could improve hospitalists’ confidence and skills in scholarly writing, especially for clinical vignettes and case reports. The program was created because many hospitalists lack formal training in writing vignettes and often face barriers such as limited time, low confidence, and unfamiliarity with the publication process.<br /><br />The boot camps were 2-hour sessions held at six hospital medicine sites and included brief didactic teaching, small-group activities, peer discussion, and writing/editing support from clinical mentors. Participants were encouraged to bring a case in advance so they could leave with a substantial draft. Topics included identifying a publishable case, setting up the vignette, framing learning objectives, literature searching, conference requirements, CARE guidelines, avoiding plagiarism, poster formatting, and selecting a journal.<br /><br />A total of 25 hospitalists attended. Of these, 11 completed pre-session evaluations and 14 completed post-session evaluations. Survey results showed improved confidence across several areas, including effective scholarly writing, writing clinical vignettes and case reports, and navigating peer review for conference and journal submissions. Participants most commonly reported barriers before and after the sessions as lack of time, concern about writing ability, and needing more instruction on practical writing tasks.<br /><br />The sessions also had tangible scholarly outcomes: participants submitted vignettes to case conferences, published case reports, and continued engaging in scholarly writing. Key lessons were that tailored support increases confidence and skills, mentors with direct experience are especially helpful, and offering convenient onsite sessions at varying times improves attendance and may foster collaborations. Participants especially valued peer discussion and practical templates/resources.

Asset Subtitle

Toby D. Terwilliger

Meta Tag

Author List Christopher M. O'Donnell, Jasmah Hanna, Manpreet Malik, Mary Ann K. Hall, Prathima Pangulur, Toby D. Terwilliger, Yelena Burklin

Category Innovations

Concept Vignette

Concept Plagiarism

Concept Clinical Case Framing

Concept Learning Objective

Concept Peer review

Distinguished Finalist

Presenter Organization Emory University School of Medicine, Grady Memorial Hospital

Presenting Author Toby D. Terwilliger

Track Communication

Keywords

clinical vignette boot camp

hospitalists

scholarly writing

case reports

confidence improvement

peer discussion

publication process

CARE guidelines

clinical mentors

conference submissions

Vignette

Plagiarism

Clinical Case Framing

Learning Objective

Peer review