CLINICO-PATHOLOGIC CASE COMPETITION

Overview
A. The guidelines for this competition are adopted from those provided by the APMC-SN
National Academics and Research Committee.
B. Participating teams will be provided a clinical case from which they are to make a seven-
minute presentation to analyze and deduce the case and arrive at logical differential
diagnoses and a theorized explanation of the case.
C. The winning team shall represent the school in the upcoming Clinico-Pathologic Case
Competition of the Regional APMC-SN Convention.

GUIDELINES
I. Eligibility Rules
A. The competition is open to all enrolled students of MMSU-COM.
B. Each team shall be composed of four (4) duly enrolled medical students.
C. Medical student participants may be composed of students from any year level with the
exception of medical interns or post-graduate interns.
D. The members of the team shall be designated as Presenter (1), Alternate Presenter (1),
and Supporting Members (2).

II. Registration and Pre-Competition Mechanics

A. Participating teams are to accomplish the Registration Form provided by the Batch
Representatives not later than two (2) weeks before the date of the College Selection.
B. The Clinical Case shall be sent through the indicated Contact Email in the registration
form not later than seven (7) working days before the date of the competition. The
participating teams will also be notified of the dissemination of the Clinical Case via the
indicated SMS Contact Details in the registration form.
C. Teams are to prepare a seven (7)-minute visual presentation that shall aid in discussing
the case. There shall be no strict defining format for the presentation but participants are
encouraged to include the following information in the presentation:
1. Overview and important facets of the case
2. Approach to the diagnoses
3. Differential diagnoses
4. Final assessment and suggested pathophysiology
D. The recommended file format for the presentation shall be a Powerpoint presentation
(.ppt, .pptx, .pps). Use of alternative programs, software, or file formats should be
coordinated with the competition organizers who shall have final authority in deciding
whether to admit or reject alternative file formats.
E. Presentation files should be submitted to the @gmail.com not later than one (1) day
before the competition. Failure to submit on time may result in disqualification.
F. Any modifications or changes to the presentation file should be submitted not later than
the on-site registration which shall end thirty (30) minutes before the start of the
competition. Changes made past the designated time shall not be honored and the original
presentation submitted shall be used instead.
G. Participants are also advised to coordinate other technical details in advance including
availability of font styles and possible logistical limitations. Back-up copies of the
presentation should also be prepared. The organizers shall not be responsible for
corrupted files and or any incompatibilities that have not been coordinated in advance of
the competition.
H. Participants may or may not seek the assistance of experts in interpreting the cases but
the organizers encourage student participants to utilize the competition as a means to test
and develop individual skills and competencies.
III. Competition Proper
A. Participating teams are required to register on-site not later than thirty (30) minutes
before the start of the program. Any substitutions for participants should be done during
this period. Failure to register may result in the disqualification of a team or a participant.
B. Upon registration, participating teams shall draw lots to determine the order of
presentation. Each team shall subsequently be referred to by their Team Numbers.
C. Teams will then be led to a Holding Room where they shall await their turn for
presentation.
1. Participants shall be disallowed from viewing the presentations of other teams
while waiting for their turn to present.
2. Participants are also barred from outside communication with mobile phones and
internet-capable devices shall be collected upon entering the holding room and
shall only be returned to participants who have completed their presentations.
3. Participants shall be allowed use of an approved laptop or alternative device for
review of their presentation with the condition that means of communication shall
be disabled including WiFi, Bluetooth, or other data connections. The same
devices are also to be placed in Airplane Mode when applicable.
4. Teams shall be notified of the start and end of each preceding presentation. The
next presenting team shall be told to prepare when their immediate preceding
presenter has started.
5. Upon being called, the next presenting team shall proceed to the stage for their
presentation.
D. The designated presenter shall have seven (7) minutes to complete the presentation. The
timer shall start at the first word uttered and end when the presenter has verbally
indicated the end of the presentation. Every minute or fraction thereof in excess of the
allotted presentation time shall merit deductions equivalent to 0.5 points from the final
score for each judge.
E. A five (5) minute question and answer portion shall follow each presentation.
1. Each of the three (3) judges shall be allotted a maximum of one (1) main question
and one (1) follow-up question
2. Only student members of the team may answer the questions raised
F. Participants who have completed their presentation are to proceed to the Holding Room
to retrieve any personal items and may opt to watch the rest of the presentations among
the audience.
G. After all participating teams have presented, the designated pathology judge shall reveal
the pathologic diagnosis of the case and present a summary or brief explanation of the
case.
H. The winners of the competition shall be announced during the designated awarding
ceremonies. The Best Presentation award will be given to the team with the highest score
under Presentation (see Page 7 for the breakdown) while the Best Speaker Award will be
given to the team with the highest Speaker Score.

IV. Judging Criteria

A. There shall be four (4) judges. One (1) of the judges should have a strong background in
medical pathology, preferably a pathologist, who shall be the sole judge with access to
the histopathologic data and final pathologic diagnosis of the case. In order to give
importance to the deductive process involved in the presentation of the contestants at
arriving at their differential diagnoses, the pathology judge, who has sole knowledge to
the true diagnosis of the case, shall not contribute to the scoring of the participants.
B. The judging criteria shall be as divided into Presentation and Delivery (20%), Content
(55%), and Question & Answer (25%). These are expounded in the judging sheet (refer
to Appendix II).
C. A rank scoring system shall be employed for the final calculation of scores.
1. Each judge shall rate each presentation for a maximum score of 100%.
 2. The ratings will be tabulated and each team will be ranked based on their scores
per judge.
3. A rank score of 1 will be allocated to the team which scored highest for a
particular judge. The next highest rated will be ranked 2, 3, and so on.
4. In the event of a tie in the numerical score, the mean rank of the number of tied
teams will be the assigned rank score. For example, if three (3) teams are tied for
rank 2, the rank points 2, 3, and 4 will be summated (9) and divided by the
number of teams (3) to arrive at a rank score of 3. Each of the three teams will
then be allocated a rank score of three (3).
5. The ranks scores for each team be summated with the highest ranked team (closer
to 1) declared the winner.
D. In the event of judging difficulties, the judges may opt to agree on a winning team
provided a unanimous endorsement of the result. The judges will also be asked to declare
in writing teams ranked 2 and 3 which shall be contacted as substitutes in the event that
the winning team is unable to participate in the regional competition.
 CLINICO-PATHOLOGIC CASE COMPETITION
Score Sheet

JUDGE: ______________________________________________________________________
Note: The detailed breakdown of scores is prescribed for guidance but judges may opt to judge
differently provided that the breakdown of points for each major category is retained.

Disagree

Disagree
Strongly

Strongly
Average

Agree

Agree
1. CONTENT
The pertinent information of the case was clearly presented and 2 4 6 8 10
thoroughly processed (10 points)
Differential diagnoses were based on sound analysis of available 2 4 6 8 10
information (10 points)
Differentials were of sufficient breadth and coverage (10 points) 2 4 6 8 10
Final diagnosis reflected depth of analysis, sound judgment, and is 2 4 6 8 10
supported by noted observations and literature (10 points)
Proposed pathophysiology was comprehensive (10 points) 2 4 6 8 10
Presenters made effective use of pertinent literature (5 points) 1 2 3 4 5
(Maximum: 55) Subtotal
2. MASTERY (QUESTION & ANSWER)
The group was able to provide logical and substantial answers to 2 4 6 8 10
the questions (10 points)
Answers demonstrated mastery of the position taken (5 points) 1 2 3 4 5
Answers were consistent with the presentation given (5 points) 1 2 3 4 5
Answers to questions contributed significantly to the proposed 1 2 3 4 5
diagnosis and explanation of the case (5 points)
(Maximum: 25) Subtotal
3. PRESENTATION
The presentation was concise, well-organized and logically- 1 2 3 4 5
sequenced (5 points)
The presentation was coherent and well-understood (5 points) 1 2 3 4 5
The presenter was able to connect with the audience during the 1 2 3 4 5
presentation (5 points)
The presenter used presentation visuals to great effect (5 points) 1 2 3 4 5
(Maximum: 20) Subtotal
(Maximum: 100) TOTAL

BEST SPEAKER CRITERIA

The presenter conveyed information clearly and is easily 1 2 3 4 5
understood (5 points)
The presenter demonstrated variation in voice and gestures which 1 2 3 4 5
were appropriate to the changes in the content being discussed (5
points)
The presenter was able to maintain good eye contact (5 points) 1 2 3 4 5
The presenter was able to hold audience interest throughout the 1 2 3 4 5
presentation (5 points)
The presenter was appropriately dressed and demonstrated good 1 2 3 4 5
stance/posture during the presentation (5 points)
(Maximum: 25) Subtotal