Rationale

Sore throat and rhinorrhea are very common clinical presentations. Inappropriate use of antibiotics for viral pharyngitis is a significant contributing factor to antibiotic resistance.

Causal Conditions

(list not exhaustive)

1. Infections (e.g., viral, bacterial, candidial)

2. Allergic (e.g., chronic allergic rhinosinusitis)

3. Other (e.g., trauma, neoplasm, foreign body)

Key Objectives

Given a patient with a sore throat and/or rhinorrhea, the candidate will diagnose the cause, severity, and complications, and will initiate an appropriate management plan.

Enabling Objectives

Given a patient with a sore throat and/or rhinorrhea, the candidate will

1. list and interpret critical clinical findings, including

   1. presence or absence of fever, cough, cervical lymphadenopathy, tonsillar exudates;

   2. relationship to environmental exposure;

   3. visual inspection of the nose and oropharynx;

2. list and interpret critical clinical investigations, including

   1. determining whether further testing for group A streptococci is indicated;

   2. determining if an allergy or more unusual cause for rhinorrhea is present;

   3. determining the need for blood testing (e.g., monospot);

3. construct an effective initial management plan, including

   1. appropriate use of antibiotics;

   2. recognition of the role of antibiotics (e.g., prevention of acute rheumatic fever);

   3. determination as to whether the patient requires specialized care.