Background: Journal club is a frequently used avenue in residency programs for teaching critical evaluation of the medical literature. Common structures include prerequisite reading of an article and then a presentation or discussion about the article in a small or large group format. Journal Club represents an opportunity to develop skills in literature appraisal and in appropriate application of medical knowledge, but is often resident-presenter driven and does not meet its objectives.
Purpose: We designed a low-burden, faculty-driven journal club structure which enables the learner to actively participate just beyond their comfort zone in interpretation and application of the medical literature.
Description: We created a new monthly journal club which integrates adult learning principles and allows engagement of multilevel learners, from student to attending, in appraising a research article on a relevant topic, with limited learner preparation. Our design was implemented at the St. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center which has 2 affiliate institutions, Washington University and St. Louis University. The format includes a 10-minute faculty introduction to the background, methods, and results, followed by a breakout discussion session in small groups. Small groups are assigned open-response questions designed to evoke analysis, critical thinking and discussion about important aspects of the article. An expert from the article field is then in attendance to further small group responses. After each session, participants filled out a 10-question survey using the Likert Scale from 1-5 where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree.
Results of the survey after 10 journal club sessions show that participants overall enjoyed journal club and thought this format was more effective than other formats they have experienced at their home institutions. The average score was 4.58 for all responders for “Journal Club has increased my medical knowledge” with 98% of responders choosing a score of ≥ 4. The average score was 4.32 for all responders for “This interactive journal club has improved my learning in comparison to a typical group lecture,” with 84% of responders choosing a score of ≥ 4.
A focus group was also conducted after journal club where direct feedback was elicited from participants. Medical students and residents alike praised the interactive small group nature of the conference noting that “interactive helps us focus and understand better” and “low pressure environment [doesn’t] call out people.”
Conclusions: We describe a novel journal club format founded on adult learning principles that engages learners of various levels. This new format may be superior to traditional journal club formats and is well-received by attendees. This format may easily be replicated at other institutions.