84390 - Medical Cases and Scientific Evidence

Learning outcomes

Apply clinical reasoning to analyze and resolve common problems of medical interest. Present and critically analyze clinical cases, discuss the differential diagnosis, and formulate appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for each case. Decribe and use the principles of evidence-based medicine in the context of specific medical and clinical questions. Search, retrieve, and present published data from the scientific literature, determine its validity through critical appraisal, and evaluate its translation into everyday clinical practice. Construct a scientific article according to established standards for publication.

Course contents

The topics to be presented during the lessons are reported below, however they do not include anything that can be matter of evaluation, which includes the entire Internal Medicine.

The approach of this exam to the patient is inductive, to the aim of teaching how to move from patient's clinical condition to the diagnosis to the principles of treatment of the condition (with knowledge of the specific recommended pharmacological compounds), rather than a systematic approach to diseases, which remains however very well received and recommended. Accordingly several clinical cases will be presented as exemplary, but also as relevant to discuss differential diagnoses.

The oral exams can start from the presentation of a case, reasoning with the student about clinical approcal, differential diagnosis, laboratory and instrumentale investigations, final diagnosis, treatment or asking to illustrate a disease (in the latter instance it is recommended to follow a structured modality, starting with definition and going through epidemiology, clinical manifestations, differential diagnosis, physical findings, laboratory and instrumental investigations, achievemente of diagnosis, staging and treatment.

 

TOPICS OF THE LESSONS (these includes the topics the will be illustrated by the various teachers of the course). The topics are illustrative and it may be that not all of them will be covered during the lessons and they also do not represent the topics that will be exclusively discussed during the exam, as the questions may expand to other meidcal topics of the course of medicine not includere herewith).

Allergies

Jaundice

Autoimmune disease of the liver and biliary system

Cirrhosis and its complications

Electrolytes imbalance

Basic-Acid disturbances

Anemia

Pneumonia

Venous thrombosis

Management of anticoagulation

Paraneoplastic syndromes

Splenomegaly

Gaucher disese

Sarcoidosis

Amilodosis

Hereditary Hemorragic Teleangectasia (Rendu-Osler)

Stroke

Approach to neoplasia

Focal liver lesions

Principles of nutrition

Bedside ultrasound

Renal failure

COVID disease

Sepsis

Basic reading of EKG (including main arrhythmias and signs of myocardial ischemia).

Gaucher disease

Hereditary Hemorragic Teleangectasia (Rendu-Osler disease)

Stroke

Pleaural and abdominal fluid effusions (ascites)

Palliative care

Immunodeficiency syndromes (HIV, hypogammaglobulinemia)

Diabetes: diagnosis, complications and clinical management

Global cardiovascular risk

Lipid metabolism abnormalities

Chronic Obliterative arterial disease of the lower limbs

Vasculitis

Fever of unknown origin (FUO)

Reumatic Polymyalgia

Autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome

Celiac disease

Principles of artificlal intelligence in internal medicine

Cardiac failure

Myocardial infarction, including short, mid and long term complications.

Main arrhythmic conditions (e.g. atrial fibrillation),

Adverse events and contraindications of the most commonly utilized drugs (e.g. betablockers, steroids, NSAID, etc)

COPD etc are given for granted, but may be part of the lessons.

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

There are several volumes on Internal Medicine

A standard text for clinicians is the Harrison Principles of Internal Medicine

Electronic resources, such as UpToDate, are also valuable, but the entire approach to the exam is less systematic and organized

AMBOSS is a recent electronic resource devoted to medical students (still to be verified by out teachers).

Another eletronic resourse with a special focus on visual learninn, with schemes is osmosis.org

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons including discussion of cases

Personal reading

Assessment methods

Oral exams (apart from the few excepctions according to Unibo rules, to be preliminarily agreed).

Exams will take place in dates to be later communicated once we will have confirmation of the availability of the room .

For those of the previous academic year two dates of exams are already planned.

• 16 sep 2025
  

Office hours

See the website of Fabio Piscaglia

See the website of Paolo Caraceni

See the website of Luigi Muratori

See the website of Paolo Caraceni

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