The Art and Science of Presenting a Patient's Problems

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Abstract
The proper presenation of a patient's medical problems by an expert is an artistic and scientific achievement that stimulates and teaches those who hear him. Since experts are rare, it is not uncommon for the one who presents a patient's medical problems to achieve a negative result. Some years ago, in an effort to improve the art, I wrote a short satire entitled "The Art of Poor Case Presentation" hoping to highlight—and thereby eradicate—the destructive aspects of the act of presenting.1,2 Unfortunately, the satire did not produce any visible evidence of benefit even though it was widely read. Now, some years later, another approach is needed in order to improve the art of presenting a patient's problem. Accordingly, the objective of this discussion is to describe a method of "patient presentation" which recognizes the changes which are occurring in our medical education and patient care systems. The changes that

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