Running a Journal Club Ziba Nadimi Outreach Library Service Manager September 2010

Objectives Definition History Goals Journal club types Success Structuring Useful resources Conclusion

Definition “A group of individuals who meet regularly to critically discuss applicability of current articles found in medical journals” Kleinpell, RM, Rediscovering the value of the journal club, Am J Crit Care, 2002;11:412-4

History Journal club was first mentioned in London between 1835 – 1854 in the memoirs of Sir James Paget describing the situation in St Bartholomew’s Hospital as: “Some of the pupils, making themselves into a sort of club, had a small room over the baker’s shop near the Hospital Gate where we could sit and read the journals and where some, in the evening, played cards” (quoted by Linzer, 1987) Source: Cave MT, Clandinin J. Revisiting the journal club, Med Teach 2007; 29:

Goals Keeping abreast with the literature Promoting evidence-based practice Teaching research methodology, clinical epidemiology and statistics Providing opportunities for training in clinical decision making Gaining critical appraisal skills Informing guidelines development

Goals Cont. Fulfilling continuing professional education’s requirements and fostering life-long learning Fulfilling a social role of having regular contacts with colleagues and have social interaction Being an important part of continuing medical education

Types of Journal Clubs Traditional Selecting articles - Selecting random articles- may not be relevant to current clinical practice - Appraising them without using any tools to assess validity and applicability

Types Cont. Problem and Evidence-based Identifying a current clinical problem - Clinical problem is then discussed with a senior staff or among trainees - The problem is then converted into focused and answerable question using PICO tool (for population, intervention, possible comparison and outcome) Searching the literature to find the relevant articles using keywords and search filters - An information specialist can help in the whole process Critically appraising the selected articles using a checklist Presenting and discussing the findings

Successful Structuring Having written learning objectives Having a motivated individual or small group to organise and run the club Involving information specialists/librarians to provide one-to-one or group training in literature searching and help with critically appraising the retrieved evidence Maintaining continuity without periodic abandonment Maintaining regular attendance Providing food and refreshments

Useful Resources CATmaker software Stores the research question and search strategies Helps frame the question itself and allows appraisal Can carry out clinical calculations including confidence intervals, ratios, numbers needed to treat Generates files which can be formatted, saved, sorted and printed using any word processing software

Conclusion A journal club: is an integral part of doctors’ continuing medical education is a step forward in evidence-based practice needs to use surveys to assess goals and monitor satisfaction

References Conducting a journal club Buffington D The journal club: a modern model for better service and training Yousri A. et al, Education 2006; 8: How to make journal clubs interesting Swift, G., Advances in Psychiatric Treatment (2004), vol.10:67-72