How To Write A Good Pharmacy Clerkship Report In Nigeria

Clerkship report

After the end of the clerkship programme for pharmacy students, it is expected of them to prepare a formal case report. The report is all about the case of a patient that the student helped review during the clerkship period. Students are not expected to handle two cases. The report can be both in group and individual. The group case report follows a similar pattern with the individual format. The only difference is that the group will be presented as a slideshow and defended by the students belonging to the group.

When writing a clerkship report, the typing format must be the one specified by the department. In general, it is a rule of thumb to use a font of times new roman and a font size of 12 – 14. Word spacing should be double line spacing unless otherwise specified.
The format for a case report is simple and straightforward. The format is similar to that of a normal project schoolwork. They are;

1. Title page
2. Acknowledgement
3. Table of content
4. Abstract
5. Description of patient (use initials only)
6. Diagnosis and treatment, laboratory data, physical assessment data (from physicians note in case file)
7. Discussion (drug therapy problem, drug therapy, rational use of drugs, pharmacokinetics, interactions, side effects)
8. Intervention (therapeutic plans for resolving drug therapy problems identified)
9. Conclusion
10. Reference

Before you begin the write-up, it is pertinent to seek for all relevant data. These can be gotten from observation the patient and taken note of the patient’s condition, taking information from the patient's case file. However, care should be taken to minimise the use of pieces of information that may not be relevant to the case from the patients’ case file. Pieces of information that may be very relevant to most clerkship cases include clinical notes, laboratory reports, x-rays, etc. Once this information is available, the next plan is to draft out the problem the information will solve. This is called the mental picture. With that, the writing can start.
When writing a formal case report, avoid the use of speculation and also the writing should be in the form of a story with an intention of care so that the information will flow with the reader. So, what should be done in each format?

Title Page

It is not as easy as ABC the way so many people think of it. The title should be self-explanatory and at the same time captivating. The words ‘case study or case report’ should form part of the title. Titles can be either one of two forms;

• A compound Title: This is a title that is made up of two sentences joined together such as ‘drug adherence among hypertensive patients in Delta state-a case study.’
• A Nominal Title: This is composed of a single compound sentence such as ‘a case report on drug adherence among hypertensive patients in Delta state.

Another important part that is always been overlooked is that a title should not contain more than 8 – 9 words or more than 60 characters. However, this is not a rule but rather a proper thing to do.

Acknowledgement

Very easy but if not properly done can affect your grade. Acknowledge those who contributed to the success of the clerkship. The acknowledgement should flow from the persons who had more impact on the case report and clerkship down to those with less impact. It is not proper to acknowledge just anybody when there was no contribution from the person towards the clerkship just because the person is a friend. First names matters.
Read Also: Guidelines On How To Fill Industrial Training Log Book For Pharmacy Students In Nigeria
Acknowledge lecturers and hospital staffs before your family and friends, as this is now becoming the norm. For group work, the acknowledgement should be limited to just the lecturers and staff and finally the group members for their individual contribution to the project.

Table Of Content

The numbering should be roman numerals from the title page down to the abstract. From the description to reference should have a number. This is easy as we will not dwell much on it here.

Abstract

There are two formats of writing abstracts. They are;

• Narrative Abstract: In narrative method or style, the abstract summarises the complete case report without subheading.
• Structured Abstract: In this method, the abstract is divided into topics such as introduction, result, conclusion, etc.

1. Introduction: Describe the case here
2. Case Presentation: Include the past and present medical history
3. Management And Outcome: Actions were taken and results of such actions and finally, what can still be done
4. Discussion: Raise a question with a brief answer, which will stimulate the curiosity of the examiner to want to dig deeper into your case report. The answer to the question raised should be well presented inside the case.

However, both abstracts contain visually same thing. The structured abstract has more advantage than narrative as an examiner can with just a single glance set his eyes on what he is looking for. All abstracts are written after completing writing the reports. The format of typing an abstract is similar to the body except that it is single line spacing and since abstract is a summary; it should not be up to a page.

Description Of Patient

This part has got some students into trouble. The patients’ data relevant to the case is what is needed and not the patients’ details. Names, address, and contact information are not needed but age, gender, weight, height, skin colour, and some other basics are what is needed.

Diagnosis And Treatment

Write out the patients past medical history, present history including laboratory data and other physical assessment carried out by the other healthcare team such as those by the medical doctor, the laboratory scientist etc. Outline the treatment plan for the patient with the disease condition. If the patient is suffering from multiple conditions, indicate the possible link between each treatment for each condition in a very clear and concise matter. This is the basics of the case report.

Discussion

From the diagnosis, write out the outcome of each treatment plan and the results obtained so far. Indicate the side effects or adverse effects if any and what can be done for improvement. If any two drugs have potential drug-drug interaction, explain while it is proper or improper in this case and the plan you took to avert possible dangers. Examiners are interested in this aspect too.

Intervention

Honestly, most cases if not all will not have intervention plan. This may be used for summary and conclusion. always indicate what has been learnt so far from the entire clerkship and the report and specific plans on how to improve on it in the future.
Read Also: Guidelines On How To Fill A Clerkship Log Book For Pharmacy Students In Nigeria
However, not all reports are completely on a patients case as some reports has been on the benefits of the clerkship to them. However, the guide above is the major clerkship formats in many schools of pharmacy in Nigeria.
The report will be submitted most times along with the clerkship log book after the group presentation. Group presentation is done with a format which can be found in this blog by searching for pharmacy presentation using this blog search engine box.
Share On Social Media With Friends And Family To Show You Care!