[General internal medicine in hospital practice: the year 2013 put into perspective by residents]

2013 was full of significant advances in all areas of medicine, which may have an impact on daily practice in general internal medicine. From salt and water restriction in heart failure to transfusion threshold in upper gastrointestinal bleeding and fecal infusion in Clostridium difficile colitis; from new data in resuscitation and persistent questions in palliative care and intensive care medicine, through pneumology, nephrology and endocrinology, the literature has been rich in new considerations. Each year, the residents of the Department of internal medicine of the University hospital of Vaud (CHUV) meet to share their most interesting readings. Thirteen of them are reviewed and commented here.