MEdIC Series logo

Inspired by the Harvard Business Review Cases, the MEdIC Series puts difficult medical education cases under a microscope. From 2013-2018, on the fourth Friday of the month we will pose a challenging hypothetical dilemma, moderate a discussion on potential approaches, and recruit medical education experts to provide “Gold Standard” responses. Cases and responses will be made available for download as individual PDFs (i.e. one per case). Year 1-4 are also available as e-book compendiums (see below). Feel free to use them locally for your own education or in group activities with others!

Read more about the background of our process in our paper within the leading medical education journal Academic Medicine:
Chan TM, Thoma B, Lin M. Creating, Curating, and Sharing Online Faculty Development Resources. Academic Medicine. 2015;90(6):785-789. doi: 10.1097/acm.0000000000000692

Our Purpose

The purpose of the MEdIC series is to create resources that allow you to engage in ‘guerrilla’ faculty development – enticing and engaging individuals who might not have time to attend faculty development workshops to think about challenging cases in medical education. We hope to support our readership’s development by creating Expert Peer Reviewed content featuring prominent thinkers in emergency medicine (and beyond) on key topics.

Meet Our MEdiC Team

Series Editors

  • Tamara McColl, MD FRCPC MEd(c)
  • Teresa Chan, BEd MD FRCPC MHPE

Assistant Editors

  • S. Luckett-Gatopoulos, MD MSc
  • John Eicken, MD
  • Eve Purdy, BHSc MD
  • Alkarim Velji, MD
  • Brent Thoma, MA MD FRCPC MSc

Season Five Cases (2017-ongoing)

Case Original Post Wrap Up Post PDF link
Case 5.1: The Case of the Discriminatory Patient Link Link PDF
Case 5.2: The Case of the Difficult Debrief  Link Link

Bonus:
Podcast

PDF
Case 5.3: The Case of the M&M Shame Game Link Link PDF
Case 5.4: The Case of the Technologically-Challenged Academic Link Link PDF
Case 5.5: The Case of the Night Shift Stimulants Link Link PDF
Case 5.6 The Case of the Post-Paternity blues Link Link PDF
Case 5.7  The Case of the Orphaned Patient Link Link PDF
Case 5.8  The Case of the Overwhelmed Senior Link Link PDF
Case 5.9 The Case of the Medication Mishap Link Link PDF

Season Four Cases (2016-2017)

Case Original Post Wrap Up Post PDF link
Case 4.1: The Case of Cognitive Overload Link Link PDF
Case 4.2: The Case of the Overly Attentive Attending Link Link PDF
Case 4.3: The Case of the Fatiguing Fourth Year Link Link PDF
Case 4.4: The Case of the Resident-At-Risk Link Link PDF
Case 4.5: The Case of Shifting Expectations Link Link PDF
Case 4.6: The Case of the Lazy Learners Link Link PDF
Case 4.7: The Case of the Solo Senior Link Link PDF
Case 4.8: The Case of the Failure to Fail Link Link PDF
Case 4.9: The Case of the Competency Conundrum Link Link PDF

Season Three Cases (2015-2016)

Case Original Post Wrap Up Post PDF link
Case 3.1: The Case of the FOAM promotion Link Link PDF
Case 3.2: The Case of the Patient with a No Learner Policy Link Link PDF
Case 3.3: The Case of the Cackling Consulting Resident Link Link PDF
Case 3.4: The Case of the Awkward Assessors Link Link PDF
Case 3.5: The Case of the Catastrophic Classroom Link Link PDF
Case 3.6: The Case of the Pimping Physician Link Link PDF
Case 3.7 : The Case of the Fibbing First Year Link Link PDF
Case 3.8 : The Case of the Terrible Code Link Link PDF
Case 3.9: The Case of the Honorary Authorship Link Link PDF

Season Two Cases (2014-2015)

Case Original Post Wrap Up Post PDF link
Case 2.1: The Case of the Backroom Blunder Link Link PDF
Case 2.2: The Case of the Debriefing Debacle Link Link PDF
Case 2.3: The Case of the Ebola Outbreak Ethics Link Link PDF
Case 2.4: The Case of the Late Letter Link Link PDF
Case 2.5: The Case of Breaking Bad News Badly Link Link PDF
Case 2.6: The Case of the Returning Traveller Link Link PDF
Case 2.7: The Case of the Financial Fiasco Link Link PDF
Case 2.8: The Case of the FOAM Faux Pas Link Link PDF
Case 2.9: The Case of the Flirtatious Patient Link Link PDF
Case 2.10: The Case of the Unseasoned Senior Link Link PDF

Season One Cases (2013-2014)

Case Original Post Wrap Up Post PDF link
Case 1.1: The Case of the Difficult Consult Link Link PDF
Case 1.2: The Case of the Facebook Faceplant Link Link PDF
Case 1.3: The Case of the Woman in White Link Link PDF
Case 1.4: The Case of the New Job Negotiations Link Link PDF
Case 1.5: The Case of the Magnificent Mentor Link Link PDF
Case 1.6: The Case of the Terrible Teammate Link Link PDF
Case 1.7: The Case of the Culture Clash Link Link PDF
Case 1.8: The Case of the Not-so-Humorous Humerus Link Link PDF
Case 1.9: The Case of the Unexpected Outcome Link Link PDF
Case 1.10: The Case of the Exasperated Educator Link Link PDF
Case 1.11: The Case of the Justified Junior Link Link PDF
Case 1.12: The Case of the Absentee Audience Link Link PDF

Free e-Books: MEdIC Season 1-3 Compilations

Click on this direct iTunes link or the picture below to go there. You may also go to our ResearchGate link to get the PDF version if you are unable to access the iTunes e-book.

MEdIC Cover
Chan TM, Thoma B, Lin M (Eds). (2014). Medical Education in Cases: Volume 1 (1st Edition). Digital File. San Francisco, CA; Academic Life in Emergency Medicine. ISBN: 978-0-9907948-0-6.
MEdICYear2BookCover
Chan TM, McColl T, Luckett-Gatopoulos S, Purdy E, Thoma B (Eds).(2016).Medical Education in Cases: Volume 2. San Francisco, CA; Academic Life in Emergency Medicine.  ISBN: 978-0-9907948-0-6.
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2555.1522
PDF     |     iTunes
Chan TM, McColl T, Luckett-Gatopoulos S, Purdy E, Eicken J, Thoma B. (2017). Medical Education in Cases: Volume 3 (1st Edition). Digital File. San Francisco, CA; Academic Life in Emergency Medicine. ISBN: 978-0-9907948-9-9.

Newly available (July 20, 2017)

The Volume 4 e-book is out now.  You may go to our ResearchGate link to get the PDF version, and it is also available on iTunes as an e-book.


Did you know…?

ALiEM MEdIC series was selected as a “Top Five What Works” abstract and will be presented from the podium at the International Conference on Residency Education in 2014. Dr. Teresa Chan will represent the ALiEM Team. On October 25, 2014, Dr. Chan also presented the first ALiEM Press production the ALiEM MEdIC E-Book.

MEdIC Series | Case of the Patient with a No Learner Policy – Expert Review and Curated Commentary

No students allowedLast week, we launched the second case of the ALiEM MEdIC series third season. The Case of the Patient with a No Learner Policy hit close to home for some of our regular contributors and many new ones. We are proud to present the Curated Community Commentary of the case discussion along with the opinion of our 2 experts. Thank-you again to all our experts and participants for contributing again this week to the MEdIC series.

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By |2020-04-20T19:48:13-07:00Nov 6, 2015|MEdIC series|

MEdIC Series | Case of the Patient with a No Learner Policy

No students allowedWelcome to season 3, episode 2 of the ALiEM Medical Education in Cases (MEdIC) series! Our team (Brent Thoma, Sarah Luckett-Gatopoulos, Tamara McColl, Eve Purdy, and Teresa Chan) is pleased to welcome you to our online community of practice where we discuss difficult medical education cases each month. As usual, the community discussion will be reviewed using qualitative research methods to produce a curated summary that will be combined with two expert responses to create a functional teaching resource.

This month’s case features a problem that many of us have seen in our day-to-day practice: a patient with a strict no learner policy who refuses to be assessed by anyone other than the attending physician. With much of the care in teaching hospitals delegated through fellows, residents, and medical students at various stages of training, how would you address this problem? Please read the case and join in the discussion below!

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By |2017-01-20T12:30:39-08:00Oct 30, 2015|MEdIC series|

MEdIC Series | The Case of the FOAM Promotion – Expert Review and Curated Commentary

stairsLast week, we launched season 3 of the ALiEM MEdIC series and it sure took off! The Case of the FOAM Promotion brought together learners, teachers, and colleagues from across many disciplines to discuss promotion and the conversation nicely evolved to include a discussion of life goals and self-evaluation. We are now proud to present to you the Curated Community Commentary and our 2 expert opinions. Thank-you again to all our experts and participants for contributing again this week to the ALiEM MEdIC series.

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By |2026-06-16T16:08:08-07:00Oct 2, 2015|MEdIC series, Medical Education|

MEdIC Series | The Case of the FOAM Promotion

AcademiaWelcome back to season 3 of the ALiEM MEdIC series! The MEdIC team (Brent Thoma, Sarah Luckett-Gatopoulos, Tamara McColl, Eve Purdy, and Teresa Chan) are very excited to kick off the ‘school year’ again with another online discussion within the ALiEM Medical Education in Cases series.

Join us now to discuss the case of the FOAM (Free Open Access Meducation) promotion wherein Chris, the assistant professor, finds himself reflecting about whether he should incorporate his online and FOAM works into his promotions package.

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By |2017-01-20T12:30:39-08:00Sep 25, 2015|MEdIC series, Medical Education|

MEdIC Series | The Case of the Unseasoned Senior – Expert Review and Curated Commentary

SMACCLast week, we launched one of the cases which was developed at the ALiEM MEdIC workshop at SMACC 2015. The Case of the Unseasoned Senior brought together learners, teachers, and colleagues from across many disciplines and specialties to discuss professional responsibilities, autonomy, and clinical supervision. We are now proud to present to you the Curated Community Commentary and our 2 expert opinions. Thank-you again to all our experts and participants for contributing again this week to the ALiEM MEdIC series.

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By |2016-12-15T18:10:38-08:00Aug 7, 2015|MEdIC series|

MEdIC Series | Case of the Unseasoned Senior (SMACC Edition)

SMACCWe had the remarkable pleasure of facilitating a MEdIC workshop at the Social Media and Critical Care (SMACC) conference in Chicago this past month. We shared our process with those who participated and spent time developing cases. We’d like to thank the participants from our workshop for their hard work!  The below is one of the final products that our amazingly engaged and enthusiastic group come up with. The case generated meaningful discussion in our SMACC live session, and we hope that it will be as engaging in the online forum! We look forward to hearing what you think about our Case of the Unseasoned Senior.

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By |2017-01-04T18:32:44-08:00Jul 31, 2015|MEdIC series|

MEdIC Series | The Case of the Flirtatious Patient – Expert Review and Curated Commentary

heart-ECGThe Case of the Flirtatious Patient has been sparse in volume of comments but we’ve still had a really interesting set of comments over the past week. We are now happy to present to you the Curated Community Commentary and our two expert opinions. Thank-you again to all our experts and participants for contributing again this week to the ALiEM MEdIC series.

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By |2018-01-30T02:40:05-08:00Jun 5, 2015|MEdIC series|
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