Accepted Article Types and Formatting Requirements

General Formatting Requirements

12 pt font
Arial or Times New Roman
Double spaced
Headers and sub-headers are created using Word’s style tool

Headers and sub-headers do not end with colons or periods

Figure and table notes are placed immediately before or after the figure or table.
Tables are created using Word’s table tools
Equations are built using Word’s equation builder
Footnotes and numeric citations are positioned correctly (i.e., after periods and commas, before colons and semicolons)
References are labeled either “References” or “Works Cited”

URLs in References begin with http:// or https://

Visual Diagnosis Pearls

Our goal for this section is to provide clinical images and short videos that enrich and enhance the educational mission of our faculty and the medical community. Please submit images and videos that will enlighten and enhance our readers visual diagnostic skills. We are not looking for novel or unusual presentations of uncommon conditions or the first description of a particular condition. This is not a case report. Trainees and clinical faculty should be able to learn from your submission in a timely fashion, easily process the teaching points, and apply it to their practice or in teaching.

All types of media, including pictures, gifs, videos (no longer than 20 seconds), and illustrations are welcome.
All media must be original, unpublished images or videos from the actual patients seen (i.e., photos, pathology reports, radiologic imaging)
The media must be accompanied by a description of the clinical presentation and review of key teaching points of no more than 650 words.
A maximum of 3 faculty authors are permitted.
Images include photographs, drawings, imaging system outputs (such as MRIs or ultrasound), and other graphical representations.
Acceptable file types include EPS, PNG, TIFF, or any standard file type. When in doubt, submit a PDF of the image. Although many web-based images often appear at very low resolutions, readers will benefit most from your submission if your images offer high-resolution detail of 300-600 dpi.
Please submit your manuscript as a Microsoft Word document. You may include your image in the Microsoft Word document, but please also submit the image separately during upload.
Please remove identifying features if present on any media before submission. Check the attestation that verbal consent was obtained from the patient or legal proxy. Signed written consent is required for any submission with potentially identifiable features, including faces and unique markings such as tattoos. Findings in patients with rare and unusual conditions may also permit identification of the patient and thus require written consent. Signed and dated institutional consents are also acceptable. Necessity for and acceptability of consent is up to the discretion of the editorial team.
Submissions with patient identifiers without consent documentation will be rejected.

Narrative Medicine Essays

Narrative medicine focuses on patient stories as they experience illness and interact with the medical profession. We are privileged to care for patients at emotive and challenging periods in their lives, and these encounters are often memorable and meaningful. Your reflections are intended to inform us of the lived experience of those who seek our care and to enhance our listening skills and promote compassion and empathy. They help us understand their perspective and promote a stronger doctor-patient relationship. Promoting our faculty members self-reflection and growth is a key goal of these submissions.

DOM Clinical Insights seeks high-quality creative writing related to medicine, health, and well-being, especially inpatient and outpatient general internal medicine and primary care.
Submissions should identify the author; anonymous submissions will not be accepted for review.
In lieu of a patient narrative you may also choose to write an editorial or opinion piece about any topic related to medicine you feel strongly about.
Narrative medicine submissions should comprise well-crafted and engaging personal narratives, essays, or short stories of up to 1000 words and up to a maximum of two authors.
Works should tell a story that informs and illuminates the practice and teaching of medicine.
When describing a patient encounter, all identifiable patient details should be excluded.
Please submit as a Microsoft Word document.

Quality and Patient Safety Project Summaries

Completed quality improvement (QI) project summaries provide a forum for showcasing our faculty members’ efforts at improving care and care delivery as well as education and training. These submissions should be summaries of novel improvements or implementation of best practice within UCLA that have improved care or care delivery, enhanced trainee education, or resulted in interdisciplinary care between departments. Topics might include a summary of an implemented QI project that led to a measured and tangible improved outcome, new ways to measure improvement in routine care, or how a known QI methodology was repurposed in a local UCLA context and resulted in tangible change.

These submissions should be up to 1000 words and generate one or two key learning points for the reader.
A maximum of three faculty authors are permitted.
Please submit as a Microsoft Word document.
Reminder: This is not a research paper.

State primary problem you were trying to fix. What were your aims? Why was the project relevant to the health system/school or nationally?
Your introduction should succinctly describe what the current practice is and how you improved or modified it. This should include what has been attempted before and what did or did not work.
Concisely summarize pertinent literature, so readers can immediately have a grasp of the scope of the problem and the need for a solution. When documenting your aims, consider the SMART acronym: S for Specific, M for Measurable, A for Achievable, R for Realistic and T for Timeline.
Method section: BRIEFLY describe how you constructed your project. Describe the context within which the study was completed, example: clinic, emergency department, etc. Explain why a particular QI method was chosen in comparison to other potential theoretical solutions. Clearly and concisely explain the link between the proposed solution, and the problem that needed solving so that the reader can understand it.
Results and outcomes: Summarize findings and add a maximum of two tables. Summarize the teaching points.
No more than three references.

Clinical Reasoning Cases

This section features clinical problem-solving exercises in which a case is presented to a blinded discussant(s) through a series of revealed short clinical details to which they respond with their concurrent thoughts. This series is designed to highlight the clinical reasoning of internal medicine clinicians and features cases in which discussants tackle challenging diagnostic or management scenarios.

Submissions to this series require that authors first submit an outline of their case and specific clinical reasoning themes. If the pre-submission inquiry receives preapproval from the DOMCI editors, authors will be invited to submit a full manuscript.
Word limit: 2500 words
Format: Case presented over 4-7 aliquots of information (bolded), discussant responses (not bolded), discussion focusing on clinical reasoning themes highlighted by the case.
All lab values should be reported with normal values and units listed as the case unfolds.
Summary: Concluding paragraph highlights three concise teaching pearls from the case. No bullet points permitted.
Abstract: None.
References: minimum of 3 but maximum of 15.
Figures and Images: 3 or fewer. Figures (including images) should have arrows pointing to the area of interest – please make sure high resolution. If an image is reported in the text and is relevant or central to the case, it should be included in the case
Tables: 1 or fewer
Author limit: We will accept no more than five authors per submission, and we value inclusivity of all forms in author groups. Content expertise in the final diagnosis is not a requirement for the discussant author. Clinical discussants don't need to be content experts in the final diagnosis from the case.
Please submit your manuscript as a Microsoft Word document.
Please remove any potentially identifying information.