Journal clubs in Australian medical schools: prevalence, application, and educators’ opinions

Abstract

Purpose: Medically-focused journal clubs have been used as an educational tool for over 100 years, with research indicating that they improve knowledge, reading behaviour, and critical appraisal skills. However, it is unknown how widespread they are in Australian medical schools, nor the opinions of medical education leaders as to their value.Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional study was performed among academic leaders from every Australian medical school. Individuals were asked to complete a survey detailing their attitudes towards journal clubs using single- or multiple-answer questions, Likert scales, and ranked data. They were asked whether students at their institutions were able to partake in journal clubs, and if so, provided details on their implementation.Results: At least 1 response was collected from 18 of 19 Australian medical schools. The response rate was 40.8% (60 of 147), and 36 responses (60.0%) were from heads of clinical schools. Respondents from 15 of 18 institutions (83.3%) stated that their institution had a journal club. Of these, 23 (65.7%) were metropolitan institutions and 12 (34.3%) were rural institutions. Eighteen (51.4%) journal clubs were clinician-led, 13 (37.1%) were run through specific hospital departments, and 23 (65.7%) occurred during clinical years. Most respondents (20 [57.1%]) stated that the primary aim of the journal club was to develop critical appraisal skills.Conclusion: Journal clubs are a highly regarded educational tool in the armoury of medical school educators, with significant heterogeneity in their structure, geographic prevalence, and intended purpose. Further studies of their efficacy in teaching evidence-based medicine is warranted.

Journal Club is a way forward to adopt Evidence Based Practice among dental House Officers

“…Evidence-based practice has become the gold standard for optimal patient outcome and quality of care. 1 To practice evidence- based protocols; healthcare personnel should be competent to practice evidence-based decision making. As reported by Melnyk et al; 2018 2 ; an estimated 2344 nurses in USA rated themselves as less competent to practice evidence-based activities.…”

“…Evidence- based practice is incorporated in curriculum of medical, dental and nursing education to address current best practices in healthcare worldwide. 1 Literature proposed that clinical competency is linearly associated with the evidence-based knowledge of research during graduate and post graduate training. 3 Moreover; Journal Club is an effective tool to change learners approach towards critical appraisal skills and research process among Ph-D scholars in medical education.…”

“… 2 To overcome this; the implementation of journal club is a way forward to develop evidence-based competency during undergraduate level. 1 , 2 …”

“…2 To overcome this; the implementation of journal club is a way forward to develop evidence-based competency during undergraduate level. 1,2 Journal clubs have been used among professionals and students in both academic and clinical settings for more than 200 years from Osler to twitter. 5 The Journal Club (JC) is organized as regular group meetings conducted inside or outside academic walls.…”

Using a journal club to navigate a maze of COVID-19 papers in a front-line hospital service

“…In April 2020, PS and colleagues began a regular hospital-wide COVID-19 journal club at our busy tertiary hospital in Gold Coast, Australia. While journal clubs have been widely used by clinicians for over a century to enhance critical appraisal skills,1 2 their power to drive clinical practice changes should not be underestimated.…”