Up for Debate: Re-Envisioning the Journal Club with an Article-Centric Student Debate

Abstract


 Effective utilization of evidence-based medicine requires skillful development of a critical literature evaluation process. Although traditional journal club activities are a common modality to teach and refine these skills, they may limit a learner’s motivation to perform a well-rounded critique of primary literature.
 Innovation: In response to the challenges with these traditional formats, we describe a novel approach to refining critical literature evaluation skills in an Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) setting utilizing a focused, article-centric journal club debate. Students, in pairs, are assigned a single article and are tasked with building critical arguments for both pro and con sides of the article, which culminates in a one-on-one debate.
 Key Findings: The debate has been well received by students and faculty for increasing engagement in the critical literature evaluation process. The article-centric nature of the debate pushes students to a deeper understanding of an article’s merits and pitfalls. Ongoing limitations include significant faculty assessment burden and lack of a standardized, debate-specific evaluation rubric.
 Next Steps: Future efforts should focus on evaluating student performance and perceptions of the debate compared to traditional journal club formats utilizing pre- and post- surveys. The creation of a debate-specific grading rubric may streamline the evaluation process and reduce faculty assessment burden.
 
 Article Type: Note

An Online, Multi-institutional Debate on Diabetes Medications by Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience Students

“…However, their limitations often include a highly structured and rehearsed presentation that may lack depth, a superficial echoing of the strengths and weaknesses as stated by the authors, failing to arrive at their own conclusions, and/or misapplying the results to patient care. [5][6][7] The use of debates in the experiential educational environment may overcome some of the shortcomings of journal club presentations. Debates require the exercise of logic, critical thinking skills, clear spontaneous communication, increased breadth of evaluated literature, and a more robust and engaging educational value for attendees.…”

“…17 Nonetheless, debates during experiential education can be considered as an alternative to journal clubs; however impediments may include higher faculty workload and time commitment, a lack of evaluation tools, and potential difficulty in judging student performances to provide meaningful feedback. 7 Debates in pharmacy education have traditionally been conducted with students debating fellow classmates within the same institution. However, more recently, virtual meeting technology provides an opportunity for multi-institutional collaboration.…”

Effectiveness of Journal Club Activities Versus Clinical Debate Activities in Pharmacy Experiential Education

“…However, interactive clinical debates are becoming more commonplace in health care education. 1,2 Journal clubs have been utilized within health professions education for over 150 years. 3 While the increased availability of published peer-reviewed literature has changed access to these resources, the overarching skills employed within journal clubs remain the same: critical literature evaluation and facilitation of dialogue with peers to understand the application to patient care.…”

“…4 Although less widely studied, clinical debates have been used in health education and can be done in a variety of formats. 1,2,5 The Lincoln Douglas format is the most traditional, with both sides presenting their argument, followed by the opportunity for rebuttal, and ultimately summarizing their argument. Similar to journal clubs, clinical debates present an opportunity to critically evaluate literature, practice communication, and collaborate with peers or other health care professionals.…”