How to … write a Minerva Picture or Endgames article for The BMJ?

Abstract

As a medical student, some of the best learning happens at the bedside: patients are some of our most important teachers. But learning from patients doesn't stop when we graduate. Often, these cases teach us the things that textbooks can't: conditions that present in unusual ways, or cases that teach us how complexity and comorbidity affect the way conditions manifest. The BMJ 's Endgames and Minerva Pictures series are a place where medical students and doctors can share these pieces of real world learning. We welcome submissions from medical students writing alongside fully qualified consultants or general practitioners: after all, if you learnt something from a patient, it’s likely that someone else could too. So, here are our editorial team's top tips for how to write a good Endgames or Minerva Picture article: All Minerva Pictures and Endgames articles start with a patient from whom you learnt something. It might be the cutaneous features of zinc deficiency, the x ray features of a boxer’s fracture, or the rash you get after eating undercooked mushrooms: they’re all topics we’ve had cases on in the past year. Importantly, we aren’t looking for rare conditions. For Minerva, we’re looking for uncommon presentations of common conditions. For Endgames, we’re looking for common presentations of common conditions. This is where these articles are a bit different from “standard” case reports, which often focus on clinical rarities. Instead, we’re looking for articles which will educate and interest our broad readership. Remember, a wide range of doctors, healthcare professionals, and medical students read The BMJ , so articles should appeal to those working across a range of specialties: an account of a rare neurosurgical emergency won’t be as useful or …