Grand Rounds Preparation

Select case with Dr. Tinguely the week prior to scheduled presentation. Dr. Tinguely will notify the appropriate pediatricians and consultants regarding the case selected so that they may attend and comment on case at Grand Rounds, as well as give advice to student prior to presentation.

Two cases will be presented. Maximum time per case is 20 minutes. Therefore the case presentation and learning topic will need to be presented efficiently and concisely. Reading of the presentation is fine. If notes are to be used, then the presentation should be practiced so that it is presented professionally and scholarly. So practice to be certain that you stay within allotted time and that the presentation does not ramble and sound “off the cuff.”

Remember that you are “teaching” experienced clinicians during the pediatricians’ CME time. They hope and expect to learn something that will improve their diagnostic and management skills.

The presentation will be divided into two sections, i.e., case presentation and learning topic. Present the case with emphasis on HPI. Include only the pertinent parts of the PMH that apply to the case at hand. Reporting of the PE should always include vital signs and growth parameters. Also report in detail the components of the PE exam that pertain the case. Describe the differential diagnosis at the time of admission and then the admission plan. Follow this with all pertinent objective data. Finish the case presentation with a report of the hospital course and discharge follow up. Once the case presentation is completed, then stop and ask the audience if there are questions related to the case. If you are asked a management question that you cannot easily answer then shift that question to the attending or consultant. This time is set aside to give the pediatricians an opportunity to discuss the case. If that discussion goes on too long then it is Dr. Tinguely’s responsibility to close the discussion so that the student can move to the learning topic presentation.

Make your slides simple and easy to read. Bullets are good. Avoid punctuation and complete sentences on slides and avoid busy slide backgrounds.

You can obtain images for your case by contacting Rita Gustafson in Radiology Release of Information. She will send the images to you on a CD. Copy and paste one or two representative slices or images in order to best make your point. Remember to comply with HIPPA regulations when showing images as well as throughout the oral presentation. (Provide no names or patient identifiers.)

Select a learning topic that relates well to the case and is narrow enough to be completed within 10 minutes. Whenever possible teach basic science (that which you understand well from years 1 and 2) and link that to clinical medicine so that this can be useful to pediatricians in patient management. The final slide should be a list of references. Always give credit to the sources of your information.

Again practice your presentation so that it snappy and moves along rapidly. This style will make you appear intelligent and professional.

Bring your PowerPoint presentation on a CD or flash drive to the MeritCare Auditorium a few minutes before noon. Bobbi Paper will load the presentations, link the auditorium to the connecting sites and essentially have everything set to go. Dr. Tinguely will introduce you.