Case to Vignette: A Framework to Elevate Narrative by Embracing Vignette-Based Learning in Medicine

Clinical vignettes play many roles in the practice of medicine and are a near-universal method of sharing stories in clinical medicine. The act of preparing clinical vignettes is also highly valuable: organizing a case into narrative form promotes active learning, anticipating and answering clinical questions that occur in real-life practice. Clinical vignettes are integral to instructional techniques such as morning report and case-based learning, where they are utilized to foster clinical reasoning, illustrate key points, and apply medical knowledge to clinical practice. Developing a vignette facilitates reflection and deliberate practice, which are crucial for lifelong learning. Clinical vignettes are also important entries to scholarship, particularly for those earlier in their careers. They are highly adaptable to different formats like clinical vignette abstract and poster presentations, case reports, case series, clinical images, or specific clinical reasoning submissions. While these benefits are familiar to many practitioners, they may lack a structured framework to leverage vignettes' full potential as agents of professional and scientific development. We propose a framework to describe the value of clinical vignette development through four different lenses: 1) vignettes as curriculum; 2) vignettes for professional advancement; 3) vignettes for scientific advancement; and 4) vignettes for joy in practice.