An uncommon cause of pyrexia of unknown origin.

Prolonged unexplained fever is one of the most challenging problems encountered in clinical medicine. We report the case of a patient with an uncommon cause of Pyrexia of Unknown Origin (PUO).

An electronic learning portfolio for reflective continuing professional development.

Objectives: These were to measure the uptake and use of an electronic learning portfolio to support reflective continuing professional development, and to characterize attitudes towards its use and obstacles to its adoption.

Design: Uncontrolled, longitudinal intervention study with quantitative and qualitative evaluation.

Participants: Physicians with a specialty interest in endocrinology and diabetes mellitus, registered for continuing professional development with the Royal College of Physicians, London.

Involving users in the design and usability evaluation of a clinical decision support system.

Aim: To design and evaluate a clinical decision support system (CDSS) to support cardiovascular risk prevention in type 2 diabetes.

Methods: A preliminary requirements specification and three prototype CDSS interface designs were developed. Seven patients and seven clinicians conducted 'usability tests' on five different task scenarios with the CDSS prototypes to test its effectiveness, efficiency and 'user-friendliness'.

"You can't cure it so you have to endure it": the experience of adaptation to diabetic renal disease.

In this study, the experience of adaptation to diabetic renal disease was examined from a phenomenological perspective. Twenty patients attending a diabetic renal clinic were interviewed in depth. Through the use of a template analysis approach, a set of strong themes relating to changes in lifestyle was identified: changes in the nature of involvement with the medical system, coping strategies, and hopes, fears, and expectations.