The Young Talents in Internal Medicine World Contest (“Contest”) is an annual competition for young internists for the best clinical case report, held in Krakow, Poland. It was established in 2018 as a part of the McMaster International Review Conference of Internal Medicine – MIRCIM (www.mircim.one).

To take part in the Contest, participants must be endorsed by a national society of internal medicine or another recognized partner of MIRCIM – a medical university or a teaching hospital (→Partners, Endorsement, Representation). Endorsing Partners are listed on the official Contest website (www.youngtalents.one).

Submissions to the Contest are evaluated by an international group of Reviewers (→Reviewers and Jury Members).

The Contest offers three modes of participation:

• In-person: authors attend an in-person event – Young Talents in Internal Medicine World Contest Finals (“Finals”) – which runs parallel to MIRCIM, held in Kraków, Poland, to present their cases in front of an audience and answer questions. All accepted reports submitted for the in-person mode will be divided into categories (→Categories) and presented at Specialty Finals. Reviewers will also select the 30 best case reports to be presented in-person at the Grand Final.
• Virtual: authors of 10 case reports selected by the Reviewers from reports submitted for virtual participation present virtually during the Virtual Final, held online before the in-person event.
• Digital poster display only: all other cases accepted for the Contest but not qualified for in-person (on-site) or virtual presentation.

Each partner society can endorse up to 10 submissions for in-person participation and up to 5 submissions for virtual presentation. Other partners, such as medical universities/schools and teaching hospitals, can endorse up to 3 submissions for in-person participation and up to 3 submissions for virtual presentation.

Juries (→Juries) select reports for awards. Winners are announced during the Award Ceremony that takes place during MIRCIM. Prizes include certificates, publication opportunities, free participation in medical events, and monetary awards (→Awards).

The Contest is organized by the Polish Institute for Evidence Based Medicine (Kraków, Poland) and McMaster University (Hamilton, Canada) in collaboration with national societies of internal medicine and medical universities/schools and teaching hospitals from around the world.

The Contest has the following key objectives:

• Provide talented young internists from around the world with an opportunity to present in front of their peers and experts in the field of internal medicine.
• Enhance competencies of young doctors in the realms of problem-based learning and evidence-based medicine.
• Disseminate current medical knowledge through clinical case reports.
• Improve the quality of medical education and health care globally.

First Author (Presenting Author, Author)

The Contest is open to internal medicine specialists and trainees in internal medicine who are no more than 35 years of age on the first day of the Finals. Submissions from medical students will not be considered.

A participant may be listed as the first author of no more than one submitted case report.

Co-authors

The second and third authors are also considered Contest participants and are eligible for the applicable registration fee for either in-person or virtual participation.

All authors should provide their ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) if available.

Conference Attendees

The Contest Finals are open to MIRCIM Conference attendees who are not participating in the Contest. MIRCIM Conference attendees, including medical specialists and medical students, may attend the Contest Finals either in person or virtually and may observe the case presentations for educational purposes.

To attend the Contest Finals, individuals must be registered for the MIRCIM Conference through the MIRCIM registration form.

In-person participation mode

The in-person participation mode involves presentation of the submitted case report in person during the Finals in Kraków, Poland. Participants are required to pay the in-person participation fee in the amount of €250 by February 15, 2027.

The fee includes:

• Participation in the Contest and Contest Finals (May 6–7, 2027, Kraków, Poland).
• Participation in MIRCIM (May 6–8, 2027, Kraków, Poland).
• Participation in the Award Ceremony at the Gala Night (May 7, 2027, Kraków, Poland).
• Lunch voucher for 3 days.
• Certificates of participation in the Contest and MIRCIM.
• Digital poster display on the Young Talents website and venue displays during the event.
• Publication in the Book of Abstracts in the journal Polish Archives of Internal Medicine (impact factor, 4.7).

Virtual participation mode

The virtual participation mode is for first authors of submissions who cannot participate in the Contest in person. The top 10 case reports selected by the Reviewers are presented at the Virtual Final held online.

Each participant is required to pay the virtual participation fee in the amount of €150 (nonrefundable except in the event of rejection) by February 15, 2027.

The fee includes:

• Participation in the Contest.
• Three-day virtual access to MIRCIM 2027.
• Certificates of participation in the Contest and MIRCIM.
• Digital poster display on the Young Talents website and venue displays during the event.
• Publication in the Book of Abstracts in the journal Polish Archives of Internal Medicine (impact factor, 4.7).

Participants who switch from in-person to virtual participation may be included in the online Virtual Final as additional presentations (in addition to the top 10 selected for the Virtual Final) provided that:

• The change is made prior to March 31, 2027
• The case report received a higher score in the overall ranking by the Reviewers than the lowest-scoring submission that qualified for the Virtual Final

If the change is made on or after April 1, 2027, the case report will participate as a digital poster only and will not be eligible for awards.

Digital poster display only

All accepted cases that do not qualify for in-person (on-site) or virtual presentation.

Refund Policy

In the event of rejection, the participation fee will be refunded.

If a participant switches from in-person (on-site) to virtual participation, the price difference will be refunded, provided the change is made before April 1, 2027.

Changes made on or after April 1, 2027, will not be eligible for any refund.

The Organizers do not cover any expenses incurred by participants.

Partners

Societies of internal medicine, medical universities/schools and teaching hospitals interested in becoming MIRCIM Partners entitled to endorse cases for submission to the Contest can contact the Organizing Committee at youngtalents@piebm.org.

Each partner society can endorse up to 10 submissions for in-person participation and up to 5 submissions for virtual participation.

Other partners such as medical universities/schools and teaching hospitals are entitled to independently endorse up to 3 submissions for in-person participation and up to 3 submissions for virtual participation.

Case Report Selection and Endorsement Letters

Reports are selected by a Partner (e.g., through an internal qualification process). The endorsement letter from a Partner must include the case report title and authors and must be signed by a Partner representative. See the endorsement template here.

Authors are required to include the endorsement letter from a Partner when submitting their case report.

Jury Representation

A representative from each Partner with at least 2 endorsed case reports accepted for in-person participation is entitled to join the Grand Final Jury in person in Kraków, Poland (registration fee and participation in social events will be covered). If there are 10 cases for in-person participation endorsed by a given Partner, the Organizers will also provide accommodation for the Jury member.

If a Partner has at least 2 endorsed case reports accepted for virtual participation, it may delegate a representative to join the Virtual Final Jury for the Virtual Final held online before the in-person event.

Selected members of the Grand Final Jury may also be asked by the Organizers to join the Specialty Finals Juries.

All Reviewers and Jury members are experts in the field of internal medicine. A list of Reviewers and Jury members will be presented on the official Contest website at www.youngtalents.one.

Reviewers

The Organizers will delegate at least 5 Reviewers to evaluate all the submitted case reports. Reviewers accept or reject submitted cases for the Contest (all accepted in-person submissions are presented at Specialty Finals), select the 30 highest-scoring in-person submissions for the Grand Final, and the 10 highest-scoring virtual submissions for the Virtual Final.

A maximum of 3 submissions per country may qualify for the Grand Final. The Organizers may select a fourth submission from a given country for the Grand Final based on exceptional merit.

Juries

The Grand Final Jury consists of up to 5 members delegated by the Organizers and 1 member from each Partner with at least 2 endorsed submissions accepted for in-person participation in the Contest.

The Virtual Final Jury consists of up to 5 members delegated by the Organizers and 1 member from each Partner with at least 2 endorsed submissions accepted for virtual presentation in the Contest.

Specialty Finals Juries are selected by the Organizers from among members of the Grand Final Jury and other experts in the relevant categories who are present at MIRCIM.

Preselection

The preselection process is conducted by each Partner to select up to 10 case reports submitted by medical societies or up to 3 case reports submitted by universities or medical schools to represent the Partner in the Contest Finals.

The preselection process is determined independently by each Partner and is not regulated or supervised by the Contest Organizers.

Only the authors of case reports selected through the preselection process will receive the Partner’s endorsement letter (→Partners, Endorsement, Representation).

Submission

To make a valid submission, each participant must:

• submit a case report, endorsed by a Partner, during the submission period through the submission system,
• pay the Contest participation fee.

Submissions must be made via the Online Submission System by February 15, 2027. Submissions sent by email will not be accepted.

Submissions must include a complete abstract (→Guidelines on Preparing Case Reports).

Participants are required to select a participation mode (in-person or virtual) when making the submission.

Submission payment must be completed by February 15, 2027 (→Participation Modes and Fees).

All successfully submitted case reports will be evaluated by the Reviewers.

Results of the review (accepted or rejected) will be announced on an ongoing basis, no later than March 22, 2027, to allow enough time for travel preparations. Participants from countries required to have a Polish visa are strongly advised to check the local procedures and apply for a visa sufficiently far in advance.

All accepted case reports submitted by authors participating in person qualify for oral presentation at Specialty Finals.

The 30 highest-scored case reports also qualify for oral presentation at the Grand Final.

If an author who qualified for the Grand Final changes participation mode from in-person to virtual, the next highest-scoring case report will be advanced to the Grand Final for each vacated place.

The top 10 highest-scored case reports submitted by authors participating virtually qualify for the Virtual Final held online.

The selection for the Grand Final and Virtual Final will be announced by March 26, 2027.

All successfully submitted case reports will be evaluated by the Reviewers.

Results of the review (accepted or rejected) will be announced on an ongoing basis, no later than March 22, 2027, to allow enough time for travel preparations. Participants from countries required to have a Polish visa are strongly advised to check the local procedures and apply for a visa sufficiently far in advance.

All accepted case reports submitted by authors participating in person qualify for oral presentation at Specialty Finals.

The 30 highest-scored case reports also qualify for oral presentation at the Grand Final.

If an author who qualified for the Grand Final changes participation mode from in-person to virtual, the next highest-scoring case report will be advanced to the Grand Final for each vacated place.

The top 10 highest-scored case reports submitted by authors participating virtually qualify for the Virtual Final held online.

The selection for the Grand Final and Virtual Final will be announced by March 26, 2027.

Digital Posters

All accepted case reports will be displayed as digital posters on May 6-8, 2027, at the event venue, and online on the Young Talents website.

Presentations at Virtual Final

Virtual Final: A single session will be held online a week prior to the event on April 28, 2027, for the presentation of the top 10 case reports submitted for virtual participation.

A case presentation must not exceed 4 minutes, with the number of slides adjusted accordingly. Each presentation will be followed by 2 minutes of questions/comments from the experts.

Jury members will determine the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places by voting (→Assessment and Scoring Criteria).

Presentations at In-Person Finals

Authors will present their case reports at Young Talents in Internal Medicine World Contest Finals on May 6-8, 2027, in Kraków, Poland.

Grand Final: A single three-part session will be held for the presentation of the top 30 submissions.

A case presentation must not exceed 6 minutes, with the number of slides adjusted accordingly. Each presentation will be followed by 4 minutes of questions/comments from the experts and audience.

Grand Final Jury members will determine the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places by voting (→Assessment and Scoring Criteria).

Specialty Finals: All case reports accepted for the Contest, including the 30 reports selected for the Grand Final, will be presented during Specialty Finals. Submissions will be divided into subspecialty categories. Authors are asked to assign their cases to the appropriate category based on the primary final diagnosis (e.g., systemic vasculitis – Rheumatology; asthma – Pulmonology; colorectal cancer – Gastroenterology). Reports may be reclassified and assigned to a different category by the Reviewers.

A case presentation must not exceed 4 minutes, with the number of slides adjusted accordingly. Each presentation will be followed by 2 minutes of questions/comments from the experts and audience.

Members of the Specialty Finals Juries will determine the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places by voting (→Assessment and Scoring Criteria).

Award Ceremony

The Contest results will be announced at the Award Ceremony, which will take place during MIRCIM at the Gala Night on May 7, 2027. All authors are invited to attend the ceremony.

All posters and recorded presentations will be published on the Young Talents website.

The journal Polish Archives of Internal Medicine will publish all abstracts in a book of abstracts.

Winners of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the Grand Final, the Audience Choice Award winner, the 1st-place winners in the Specialty Finals, and the 1st-place winner in the Virtual Final will be invited to publish their cases as full reports in the Polish Archives of Internal Medicine free of charge, under the conditions outlined in section 5.1.

Only original unpublished case reports may be submitted.
Case reports should describe an original observation concerning diagnosis, treatment, or both. They should present one of the following:

• Rare conditions.
• Unusual presentation or complications of a relatively common condition.
• A difficult path to diagnosis.
• Cases of high educational value for other reasons.

While submission authors should indicate a category for the Specialty Finals (Categories) based on the primary final diagnosis (e.g., systemic vasculitis – Rheumatology; asthma – Pulmonology; colorectal cancer – Gastroenterology). Reports may be reclassified and assigned to a different category by the Reviewers.

Categories are as follow:

• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Diabetology & Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• Hematology
• Infectious Diseases
• Nephrology
• Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• General Internal Medicine (cases not assigned into any of the categories above)

The submission (case report abstract and poster) must be in English.  
Medical jargon should be avoided.
The use of abbreviations should be limited, with preference for those recognized internationally. Abbreviations should be spelled out at first mention except for those commonly used (eg, ECG).

1. Title (short, informative).
2. Authors’ names (presenting author listed as the first author).
3. Institutional affiliations.
4. First author’s corresponding email address.
5. Introduction (case relevance and importance).
6. Case description:
   a) Clinical situation.
   b) Course of events.
   c) Clinical resolution.
7. Discussion.
8. Conclusions/lessons from the case.

Authors should indicate a category for the Specialty Finals (→Categories) based on the primary final diagnosis (e.g., systemic vasculitis – Rheumatology; asthma – Pulmonology; colorectal cancer – Gastroenterology). Reports may be reclassified and assigned to a different category by the Reviewers.

Structure: see above.
Number of authors: up to 3.
Length: up to 500 words.
Number of keywords: up to 5.
References: up to 5.
Figures/tables: up to 3 figures and 1 table. High-resolution figures submitted as separate files. Preferred formats are TIFF, EPS, JPG.

Posters will be displayed electronically (dedicated on-site displays, online).

Size: max. 10 MB
Ratio: 9:16 (vertically)
Resolution: min. 1080 × 1920 px
Format: JPG

Slide format: 4:3 aspect ratio and 1024 × 768 px minimum resolution.
Presentations must be saved as a PowerPoint PPTX file.
Use standard Windows fonts only (avoid non-standard and language-specific fonts).
Accepted video formats: MP4 (preferred), WMV, AVI.
Presentations have to be run from a laptop provided by the Organizers. No private devices are allowed.

Submitted case reports will be evaluated by the Reviewers based on the following criteria:

• Overall clinical interest and educational value.
• Course of the case (methods used to establish diagnosis, relevant treatments, outcomes, etc.).
• Uniqueness/novelty.
• Practical and technical aspects of the submission (clarity, language, figures, etc.).

Grand Final Scoring

Each Jury member selects their top 5 presentations, assigning scores from 5 (top choice) to 1 (fifth choice). Points are then summed up, and the top 3 highest-scoring submissions receive the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards. In the event of a tie, the Jury will determine the winner through discussion.

Grand Final presentations will also be evaluated by the audience, who will have the right to vote for the best presentation. Voting will be conducted via the online form and will be available exclusively to participants present on-site at the time of voting, including abstract authors, co-authors, jury members, and other attendees. The presentation with the highest number of votes will receive the Audience Choice Award.

Specialty Finals Scoring

In each subspecialty category, each Jury member selects their top 5 presentations, assigning scores from 5 (top choice) to 1 (fifth choice). Points are then summed up, and the top 3 highest-scoring submissions receive the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards. In the event of a tie, the Jury will determine the winner through discussion.

Virtual Final Scoring

Each Jury member selects their top 5 presentations, assigning scores from 5 (top choice) to 1 (fifth choice). Points are then summed up, and the top 3 highest-scoring submissions receive the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards. In the event of a tie, the Jury will determine the winner through discussion.