Thread by @DrSethPT

I have published more case reports than most, and I get people asking me about how to do it all the time.

Here’s how to get a high quality case report published for others to see: 🧵

1.) First of all, I love these. Especially as a new clinician they helped me see the reasoning process and how care was delivered over time, which is especially helpful when you haven’t seen many patients. I’m going to focus on descriptive case reports.

2.) But what’s interesting to most? This is the crux of deciding whether to pursue publication. Sure you can present cases to others (like in our FB group or in school programs) but to get something published, it usually needs to fit in a few boxes ⬇️

3.) Is the clinical profile unique? This is the most obvious. Patients with a rare diagnosis, strange symptoms, especially if rehab of these patients hasn’t been described. One example is this alternating lateral shift paper @marklaslett_NZ @jmmtonline

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

4.) Was differential diagnosis important? There are a lot of cases like this, w/imaging cases playing a role too. These describe diagnostic reasoning so readers can see how that happens in real cases. One ex is this tumor series @tomdenninger @JOSPT

jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jo…

5.) Was the approach unique? Probably the 3rd most common. This requires documenting everything really well as you’re not just trying to show HOW to do something but convincing someone that it helped. I like this as an ex from @PMintkenDPT @AussieLouie

jospt.org/doi/full/10.25…

6.) Is the delivery of care unique? #telehealth is one ex but was it a unique system? Having readers see how a wilderness PT works might be an interesting one I haven’t seen. We used booster sessions for cLBP here: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29125371/

7.) One you do that, look for journals that still publish cases. There aren’t as many anymore, I guess because they don’t get cited as often. If you make a really strong case above, you should be able to find a home. Doing a few extra things help:

8.) Have lots of pictures, decision charts, visuals, etc. The plus of cases is that they make the theoretical real to the reader. Actual pt pictures are best but you can retake pics. Steer into that.

9.) You need to have collected good data. You need to see all patients as potential cases and do a good job w/ this but especially the interesting ones. Body charts are also helpful.

10.) Keep in mind the purpose: helping others learn something about clinical practice. If you do this well, I do enjoy reading these and learning about conditions or practices. Writing itself can help you reflect and learn about the research.

This is one component of our upcoming mentorship. @jlyoung2 anything I missed?

themovementbrainery.thinkific.com/courses/career…