Journal Club Standardization Tool: Helping participants get the JIST

Use of journal clubs and book clubs in pharmacy education: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Journal clubs and book clubs are educational activities used in health sciences education to teach evidence-based decision-making, critical thinking, and appraisal skills, and build trainee understanding about important professional issues. The main objective of this scoping review was to identify and synthesize all research studies on journal or book clubs for pharmacy learners. A secondary objective was to identify gaps in the literature where future research would be beneficial to pharmacy educators and learners.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was run across five databases. Studies were screened using a two stage, blinded, independent screening process.

RESULTS

Forty-two studies met all inclusion criteria; 86% reported on journal clubs and 14% on book clubs. Of the journal club studies, 50% were in didactic courses, 33% in experiential education, and 17% were co-curricular initiatives. Of the six book club studies, 67% were within didactic courses and 33% were co-curricular initiatives, including the only interprofessional education study. Most journal clubs were used to teach evidence-based practice, drug literature evaluation, or biostatistics. Book clubs were more focused on soft skills or topics students were less likely to encounter in the core curriculum.

IMPLICATIONS

Future research on journal clubs and book clubs in pharmacy education should continue to assess student learning outcomes and abilities. Specifically, future studies should move beyond evaluating student perceptions of journal clubs to investigate effectiveness for topics other than drug literature evaluation or evidence-based practice, and the impact of journal clubs and book clubs on interprofessional knowledge, communication, and team dynamics.

Teaching Critical Appraisal Through the Lens of Study Design in Journal Club

Training in endocrinology presents a major challenge: How to both develop a fellow’s medical knowledge and teach that fellow to independently increase that fund of knowledge as a future endocrinologist. Journal clubs hold a traditional role in teaching the most recent modern advances in medicine but frequently struggle to provide trainees with the skills needed to assess the quality of current literature. Using journal clubs to instill the skills needed for critical appraisal overcomes this difficulty and substantially enhances the value of journal clubs to trainees. Here, our journal club is reviewed, in which we teach critical appraisal by focusing on understanding study design as the key to assessing an article’s strengths and weaknesses. This journal club starts the year by reviewing study designs in a structured sequence, with sessions built to foster group participation and involvement of both fellows and faculty. Later, fellows put this learning into practice as they independently assess articles alongside their faculty. Generalizing this practice allows for implementation in other programs, including even those without faculty with a background in research methodology.

Impact of an extracurricular, student-led journal club on evidence-based practice among baccalaureate nursing students

Objective Journal clubs are accepted as an effective strategy for promoting evidence-based practice (EBP). However, journal clubs are underutilized in nursing education, and little is known about the impact of extracurricular, student-led journal clubs on EBP implementation among baccalaureate nursing students. The purpose of this study was to estimate the impact of journal club attendance on EBP implementation. Methods A web-based survey was conducted in April 2019 following eight sessions of monthly journal club among senior nursing students (n=78). Results Fifteen students attended four or more extracurricular, student-led journal club sessions (19.2%). EBP practice score was significantly higher among frequent journal club attendees. In multivariate analysis, journal club attendance was the significant predictor of EBP practice (β=0.34; p=0.006). Conclusion Graduating senior nursing students who attend extracurricular, student-led journal club sessions are more likely to carry out EBP practice. Participation in journal clubs may help increase their EBP competencies.