The Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital

More than 7,000 Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine for more than a century, and they are arguably the most emulated medical teaching tool in the world. The raw materials of these publications are clinicopathological conferences, or CPCs. For these conferences, a patient case is chosen, and a physician who was not involved is given the facts of the case. Then, in a live conference at MGH, that physician--the discussant—provides a master class in clinical reasoning, explaining their differential diagnosis. Clinicians who were involved in the case then reveal whether the discussant was correct. 

CPCs take place about 40 times per year and are open to TK audience(s). Continuing medical education credits are available to MGB clinicians for some CPCs—please consult the CPC calendar listings. In partnership with the Slavin Academy, select CPCs are now offered for both in-person and remote participants from the hospital's historic Ether Dome.

About the Team

The CPCs began as a collaboration between MGH internist Richard Cabot and pathologist James Homer Wright in 1910. Cabot began to publish and mail these cases, then in 1923, he and his son Hugh became founding editors of the Case Records in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, which would later become NEJM. For more than 100 years, the MGH Department of Pathology has served as the Case Records' home.

The Legacy of the Case Records

Listen: This 25-minute podcast episode of MGH’s Proto magazine explores why Case Records continue to serve as master classes in diagnosis.

Watch: In this 60-minute Russell Museum lecture, Rosenberg discusses the Case Records’ continuing evolution.

Read: This Russell Museum exhibit, created for the Records’ centennial, lays out the types of cases chosen, from unusual diagnoses to common ailments with unusual presentations. Click to enlarge.

The Conferences: CPCs

At this time, these resources are available only within the MGB system:

Next CPC: 56-Year-Old Man with […], Sept. 3, 2025, 1:00-2:00. Click here to register.

Full CPC Schedule [link]

CPC Video Archive 20TK-20TK [link]

Available to all NEJM subscribers

The Publications: Case Records
Most recent Case Record: 98-Year-Old Woman […] [link to NEJM] [possibly with thumbnail of top of printed case record?]

Full archive of 7,000+ Case Records, 1923-present [link to NEJM]