Writing a case report an introductory guide for practitioners of herbal medicine

Case reports are well suited for capturing real life clinical events by herbal practitioners. There is an ancient tradition of producing such reports from Hippocrates (460B.C to 370B.C.) onward (Garrison, 1929) The process of writing one can benefit a practitioners understanding of a medical area and lead to improved patient care (Caban-Martinez and Beltran, 2012). It is particularly apt for those interested in developing their academic writing skills and research activity. Reports can generate hypotheses and support case based learning, influence a professional body's practice guidelines, and provide data on rare or adverse effects. They can promote trust and cooperation with fellow healthcare practitioners by clearly communicating what it is professionals using herbal medicine do. Furthermore, publishing is a way to share your clinical experience with your own community of practitioners and to contribute to the growing knowledge and literature on herbal medicine. This article develops for herbal practitioners previously published guidelines that aim to provide those with little or no research experience with a tool kit to enable them to write a case report fit for submission to a professional journal.