Much of today's learning happens in modules. Neatly packaging concepts into topic areas is convenient for course organisers and for those who accredit learning. Patients remind us daily that the real life problems of medicine defy such artificial boundaries. The problems that Mr Bond's team are dealing with involve both psyche and soma simultaneously.1 Thus, considerations of the pathophysiological mechanisms of disease, imaging and diagnostics, surgical interventions, and therapeutics must take place alongside ethical debate and psychological engagement, all within the pragmatic context of limited resources. That is the value of case-based …