Guidelines

    1. Primary authors must be a medical student, physician assistant student, resident, or fellow. A faculty advisor should also be listed as an author

    2. Use 12-point Times New Roman (or similar) type. Limit text to 3,500 characters, including spaces, and single space all text in the body of the abstract. The 3,500 character limit does not include abstract titles, authors, or references.

    3. List author names using initials only for first and middle names.. Include institution, city, and state where research was performed. Omit degrees, titles, institutional appointments, street addresses, and ZIP codes. Single space entire abstract. The left-hand margin of the abstract’s text should be perfectly aligned.

    4. Use of abbreviations — The use of standard abbreviations is desirable. A special or unusual abbreviation should be placed in parentheses after the first appearance of the full word it represents. Numerals rather than words should indicate numbers, except to begin sentences.

    5. Use of drug names — Each time a proprietary drug name is used in the abstract, the first letter is capitalized. Nonproprietary (generic) drug names are preferred and are not capitalized.

  • (Oral or Poster Presentation Format)

    1. Stages in writing

    • a. Find a rare case

    • b. Literature search

    • c. Collect case data (and consent if appropriate)

    • d. Summarizing and writing

    • e. Editing

    2. Format

    • a. Introduction

      • i. What is known on the subject

    • b. Case Report

      • i. HPI including important pos & neg findings

      • ii. Pertinent physical exam findings

      • iii. Pertinent lab or imaging findings

      • iv. Treatment

      • v. Outcome

      • vi. Exclude unnecessary details

    • c. Discussion

      • i. Summarize what others have written regarding this condition prior

      • ii. Include the rarity of this condition

      • iii. Argument: Cause of the condition or why a particular treatment path was chosen. Why another path may have, after literature review, been more appropriate.

      • iv. Message: what lessons were learned? Recommendations?

    • d. Photos – if helpful to the case may include a photo but this is not required

    • e. References

    1. Submitted abstracts may be accepted for an oral or poster presentation as per the judges. Ongoing studies may be submitted as such

    2. Must have IRB approval if a research project

    3. Structuring the abstract — Structured abstracts facilitate explicit presentation of critical

      information and objective assessment of scientific validity. Each abstract should include the following topic headings. It is not necessary to begin a new line or leave extra space between topic headings

      1. Objectives: A precise statement of the purpose of the study or the pre-study hypothesis. This may be preceded by a brief introduction summarizing past work or relevant controversies that place the study in perspective

      2. Methods: A brief statement of the methods used, including pertinent information about the study design, setting, participants, subjects, interventions, and observations

      3. Results: A summary of the results presented in sufficient detail to support the conclusions

      4. Conclusions: Conclusions should be succinctly stated and firmly supported by the data presented. Note important limitations

  • (Poster Presentation Format)

    1. Submitted abstracts may be accepted for a poster presentation

    2. Research studies that have started data collection must be IRB approved

    3. Structuring the abstract — Structured abstracts facilitate explicit presentation of critical

      information and objective assessment of scientific validity. Each abstract should include the following topic headings. It is not necessary to begin a new line or leave extra space between topic headings

      1. Objectives: A precise statement of the purpose of the study or the pre-study hypothesis. This

        may be preceded by a brief introduction summarizing past work or relevant controversies

        that place the study in perspective

      2. Methods: A brief statement of the planned or current methods used, including pertinent

        information about the study design, setting, participants, subjects, interventions, and

        observations

      3. Results: A summary of any current results if available

      4. Other: Any other information you may want to share with potential co-authors