[The presentation of clinical cases: the map is not the territory]

To establish their effectiveness for teaching purposes two different expository methods employed for the presentation of clinical cases are compared: the "traditional or conventional" expository method and the more recently introduced non-conventional expository method. The "traditional" expository method is characterized by its schematization and rigidity, which are features that misrepresent the real clinical situation. The non-conventional expository method is distinguished by its fluidity, by its different cognitive approach (iterative approach) and by its ability to make the cognitive processes underlying all clinical reasoning explicit. This is an element of fundamental importance for teaching. In addition, the authors point out the teaching limits implicit in the presentation of cases whatever their expository method. The authors conclude by maintaining that tutorials at the patient's bedside must form the basis of clinical teaching.