Abstract

Shoulder complaints are very common among musculoskeletal disorders. Evaluation of shoulders complaints is continued to be a challenge especially in the absence of specific evidence- based evaluation algorithm. The study subject was a 20 years old college student who had long history of non- traumatic painful and crackling shoulder pathomechanics. The expert in the field has used TAREK approach to diagnose the unexplained sufferance and devise viable solutions. TAREK approach enabled the clinician to follow systematic steps to extract pertinent information regarding the clinical complaints. It is concluded that TAREK approach is robust for systematic evaluation of difficult symptoms especially when the evaluator has the necessary skills.

Key words: Case report; clinical judgment; clinical reasoning; TAREK approach