{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:38:45Z","timestamp":1785404325041,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":6,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]],"date-time":"2026-02-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770681600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Clinical examination has long been central to diagnostic reasoning and to cultivating core professional attributes in internal medicine training; however, the relevance of clinical examination has been increasingly questioned in an era in which rapid access to specialised investigations is expanding. In the Eastern Metropole of Cape Town, the \u2018decentralisation\u2019 of specialised investigations, particularly radiological imaging and point-of-care ultrasound, has made these tools readily accessible at peripheral hospitals. While diagnostic efficiency has improved at peripheral centres, this improvement has occurred alongside a reduced emphasis on fundamental bedside skills among internal medicine registrars at the tertiary level. At our tertiary centre, the overburdened internal medicine admissions area leaves little time for detailed history taking or comprehensive physical examination. Consequently, investigations performed at referring centres often precede bedside assessment at our centre. This trend risks eroding the core competencies within internal medicine training, including diagnostic reasoning, observational proficiency and elements of the hidden curriculum such as communication, rapport-building and professionalism. In South Africa\u2019s resource-constrained environment, in which clinicians often confront advanced disease and complex pathology, the clinical examination remains indispensable. Training programmes should reaffirm the vital role of clinical examination, ensuring that registrars in internal medicine maintain mastery of bedside assessment, rather than relying on special investigations. The art of clinical examination remains fundamental to good medical practice and should be actively preserved within teaching hospitals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/jcmsa.v4i1.340","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T11:13:10Z","timestamp":1770635590000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The art of the clinical examination is still relevant in internal medicine at teaching hospitals in South Africa"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"4","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9801-1300","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mogamat-Yazied","family":"Chothia","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05bk57929","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Stellenbosch University"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Patel SR, Best SL, Rabinowitz R. Sherlock Holmes and the case of the vanishing examination. Am J Med. 2018;131(11):1270\u20131271. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.amjmed.2018.05.015","DOI":"10.1016\/j.amjmed.2018.05.015"},{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Maw AM, Huebschmann AG, Mould-Millman NK, Dempsey AF, Soni NJ. Point-of-care ultrasound and modernization of the bedside assessment. J Grad Med Educ. 2020;12(6):661\u2013665. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4300\/JGME-D-20-00216.1","DOI":"10.4300\/JGME-D-20-00216.1"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Garibaldi BT, Elder A. Seven reasons why the physical examination remains important. London: Sage, 2021; p. 211\u2013214.","DOI":"10.4997\/jrcpe.2021.301"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Paley L, Zornitzki T, Cohen J, Friedman J, Kozak N, Schattner A. Utility of clinical examination in the diagnosis of emergency department patients admitted to the department of medicine of an academic hospital. Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(15):1393\u20131400. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1001\/archinternmed.2011.340","DOI":"10.1001\/archinternmed.2011.340"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Garibaldi BT, Russell SW. Strategies to improve bedside clinical skills teaching. Chest. 2021;160(6):2187\u201321895. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.chest.2021.06.055","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chest.2021.06.055"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Block L, Habicht R, Wu AW, et al. In the wake of the 2003 and 2011 duty hours regulations, how do internal medicine interns spend their time? J Gen Intern Med. 2013;28:1042\u20131047.","DOI":"10.1007\/s11606-013-2376-6"}],"container-title":["Journal of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/jcmsa.org.za\/index.php\/jcmsa\/article\/view\/340\/902","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T11:13:18Z","timestamp":1770635598000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/jcmsa.org.za\/index.php\/jcmsa\/article\/view\/340"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]]},"references-count":6,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/jcmsa.v4i1.340","relation":{},"ISSN":["3105-4331","2960-110X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"3105-4331","type":"print"},{"value":"2960-110X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,10]]},"article-number":"a340"}}