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Case Reports

Case reports are not the most rigorous publication, but they serve an important role to illustrate a unique case.

Sometimes in clinical practice, you may look for answers in the literature and find one unique case that proves useful. With this in mind, we have built online resources for our UH medical students, residents, fellows, and/or faculty who would like assistance in writing up a case for publication as a case report.

Helpful Links

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Are you a UH resident/fellow or physician practicing in HI and want to guide a medical student in writing up a case report?

Email the information below to Joan Gerber at gerber@hawaii.edu.

  1. Brief description of patient/case description
  2. Why is this case interesting?
  3. Contact name and cell or email
  4. Attending Physician/PI physician and contact email
    (Has this case been reviewed and approved by the attending physician to submit to a case report depository to solicit opportunities for medical students to assist in writing up?)
Reminder: No PHI about the case should be shared via emails. UH File Drop or secure messaging systems at the site of patient care should be used.

Regulatory Considerations

The regulatory steps and requirements necessary to publish a case report vary by institution. In general, they are intended to follow ethical conduct of research principles and to protect patient privacy.

Queen’s Health System
All case reports involving patients and patient information in the Queen’s Health System require submission to and approval by the Queen’s Research and Institutional Review Committee (RIRC) in the Office of Research and Development (ORD). Please refer to the Queen's Medical Center Policy on Clinical Case Reports and Case Series (pdf) and use this Case Report Protocol Template: QMC CaseReportTemplate_202202 (doc). Authors should refer to the Queen’s ORD website (opens new window) for further information and instructions.

Hawaiʻi Pacific Health System
All case reports involving patients and patient information in the HPH system require notification to the Hawaiʻi Pacific Health Research Institute (HPHRI). Pre-submission and approval are not required for case reports, but notification is mandatory. Please review and follow the HPH Case Report Guidelines: HPHRI Case-Reports Guidelines (pdf). Further information can be found at: https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/for-providers/research-institute/

Tools and Resources

Consent – Some journals require a specific consent form be used to consent the patient represented in the case report. We encourage you to investigate these specific requirements of the journal to which you are planning to submit your case. If there is no specific consent form requirement, you may use this Consent Form (pdf). As a medical student, you will gain experience participating in the process of obtaining and consenting the patient and best practices in doing this at the various clinical settings the patient is seen. We hope you will work closely with the resident and/or attending.