Journal clubs are a great way to stay current with the medical literature without having to read all the journals yourself. Most faculty at UF participate in a journal club as do many private practitioners. For a journal club to be effective several people need to participate. We require 4-5 students to participate so if this interests you, recruit a few classmates. All students rotating in Jacksonville will have the opportunity to participate in a journal club there as the faculty value this and it is part of their special activities for you.
The requirements are as follows:
- Pick a question related to a patient.
- Select a relevant article.
- Read the article and use the “Users’ Guide to the Medical Literature” to guide your analysis as needed. This is available at www.cche.net/usersguides/main.asp.
- Prepare ~ 10 minute discussion of the article that includes your clinical question, description of the type of study, general methods, main results, strengths/weaknesses, and how you will use this information in patient care.
- If you plan to refer to any figures or tables, make copies for everyone.
- Be prepared to address PPV, NPV, NNT, NNH as applicable.
- Be prepared to answer questions.
The advantage of participating in a journal club is that you leave familiar with 4-5 articles rather than only one.
Portfolio requirement: Please include your question and the reference for the article you selected. Have the journal club faculty facilitator fill out the EBM evaluation form.
