scholarly journals The New Embryology Journal Club - eJC STAR format: An equation for evidence-based education and embryologists’ empowerment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadi Choucair ◽  
Nagham Younis

Journal clubs are a valuable tool to assist learners in the evaluation of scientific literature and to promote the adoption of evidence-based practices. The Middle East Fertility Society Embryology Specialty Interest Group developed a concise journal club to enhance the engagement of embryologists and provide the structure of a journal club. The embryology journal club STAR format is a monthly super group journal club meeting in which an invited presenting “star” author exposes his group’s article to the entire embryologist’s community. In our modified approach, instead of a traditional lecture, the journal article to be discussed will be sent to participants in advance in conjunction with the STAR (Study design validity, Tackling the methodology, Analysis of the results, Reflecting the results into practice) critical appraisal checklist and a short online quiz to be completed before the meeting. The concise embryology journal club STAR format may be beneficial for embryologists to help them develop an efficient and consistent means to appraise evidence in clinical practice and stay abreast of the latest clinical research.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jibril I. M. Handuleh ◽  
Abdirahman A. Sulleiman ◽  
Yusuf S. Yusuf ◽  
Hayat Mohamed ◽  
Daniel Fekadu Wolde-Giorgis

Evidence based public health is one of the basic training tools of public health students and young officers in decision making. The training tools for early career specialists and trainees in public health is journal clubs (JC). It keeps the knowledge of professionals up to date and assist them in receiving information to design, plan, implement health care services, policies and strategies. The intention of the JC team was to raise awareness of methods for public health literature search, appraising it and applying this knowledge in their daily practices. A senior public health practitioner in Somaliland (the corresponding author) invited medical students and residents to have JCs as a part of their training. They did not accept the offer so the organizer invited practicing junior public health professionals instead. The JC team members were a general practitioner and 3 public health workers from Ministry of Health, public hospital physician, public health school and field public health officer. A weekly or twice weekly journal club took place to train them in critical appraisal. This continued for 15 months in a hybrid mentorship for the health care professionals. The team mentor selected a paper for discussion. Mentees choose a study design appraisal tool from the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) that matched the study to present. In the process of appraisal, a team member led the discussion using the checklist. The mentees presented their critical appraisal either orally or via a presentation. The checklist and paper were compared for assessing the study design and structure of the paper of the week. This approach of empowering junior public health officers in Somalia is a way forward for encouraging the professionals to use evidence based practice in their daily practices. This will improve their selection of research tools and translating the scientific work into their practice and services.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Packard ◽  
Megan Herink ◽  
Thomas L. Lenz

Purpose: The objective of the study was to compare a traditionally structured journal club with an evidence based structured journal club during an advanced clinical pharmacy rotation and to determine the best utilization that aligns with recent changes to the pharmacy school accreditation standards. Methods: The study included 21 students who completed journal club utilizing the traditional journal club format and 24 students who utilized an evidence based journal club format. Background characteristics, student reported beliefs, and mean critical evaluation skills scores were evaluated and compared in each group. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two cohorts in mean overall percentage grade for the activity. Students in the traditional cohort received significantly higher grades for the Study Analysis and Critique section (90.97 + 12.18 versus 81.25 + 11.18, P=0.01) as well as for the Preparedness section (96.11 + 8.03 versus 85.0 + 17.13, P=0.002). Students in the evidence based cohort received statistically superior grades for the Presentation Skills section (96.43 + 6.39 versus 82.47 + 14.12, P=0.0004). Conclusion: An evidence based journal club is a reasonable and effective alternative to the traditionally structured journal club when the primary objective is to assist students in understanding evidence based concepts and to apply current literature to clinical practice.


2001 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 397-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Swift ◽  
F. Crotty ◽  
M. Moran ◽  
C. M. McDonough ◽  
A. Moran ◽  
...  

AIMS AND METHODIn response to frequent cancellations, we recently changed the format of our journal club. We invited a statistician to attend and each meeting focused specifically on critical appraisal and statistical analysis. Active learning principles were used where every participant critically appraised an aspect of the paper presented at each meeting. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the impact of the new format on attendance and satisfaction levels. Attendance and satisfaction levels were measured in the 3 months before and the 3 months after the new format was introduced.RESULTSAverage attendance increased from 10 to 15, with two psychologists and two trainees who did not work in the hospital starting to attend regularly. Satisfaction levels also increased significantly with respect to academic interest, enjoyment, usefulness and overall satisfaction.CONCLUSIONCombining statistical expertise with principles of active learning has led to increased satisfaction levels among participants in our journal club.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Wenke ◽  
Jodie Wiseman ◽  
Caitlin Brandenburg ◽  
Paulina Stehlik ◽  
Ian Hughes ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundAllied Health Professionals (AHPs) commonly use journal clubs (JCs) to support Evidence-Based Practice (EBP). There is however little research regarding implementing JCs in the long term, and their impact on EBP use and skills in AHPs. This study investigated the impact of implementing a structured JC format, called “TREAT” that was specifically tailored for each club, on EBP skills, confidence, use and resultant changes in clinical practice over 16 sessions for AHPs in a public health service. The study also investigated AHP’s attendance, adherence, satisfaction and barriers and enablers to implementing the format.MethodsA mixed methods hybrid-effectiveness implementation design was employed, guided by the Knowledge-to-Action cycle. EBP skills, confidence, use, and attitudes were assessed (Adapted Fresno Test, EBPQ, tailored journal club culture questionnaire) at baseline, and after 10 and 16-monthly JC sessions. Satisfaction and impact on clinical practice were explored using questionnaires at the latter two time-points, with free-form responses identifying enablers and barriers to EBP culture and implementation. Data on attendance and adherence to the TREAT format were also collected. ResultsSix JCs comprising a total of 132 unique participants from seven Allied Health professions were assessed across three time points. EBP skills significantly improved on the Adapted Fresno Test after 10-monthly (6.6 points: 95% CI, 0.43 to 12.7) and 16-monthly sessions (7.8 points, 95% CI, 0.85 to 14.7), and on self-reported total EBPQ ratings of confidence at 10-months (4.9 points: 95% CI, 2.2 to 7.5) and 16-months (5.7 points: 95% CI 2.7 to 8.7). Across sessions, 88 AHPs reported adopting new treatments/resources and 64 AHPs reported updating clinical procedures. Mean attendance was 5.7 sessions (SD= 3.8), and average adherence to TREAT components each session was 86% (95% CI, 83 to 89). Most participants recommended the format and reported desire to continue TREAT JCs. Enablers to the JC included using clinically relevant topics and active participation, while reported barriers included limited time to prepare. ConclusionsTREAT JCs can be implemented and sustained by AHPs for 16 monthly-sessions. Participation improved EBP skills and confidence and led to changes in clinical practice. Contextual enablers and barriers should be considered when implementing locally.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Beth Zwart ◽  
Bernadette Olson

Context It is the responsibility of athletic training educators, through curriculum and clinical experiences, to engage students towards adopting evidence-based practice (EBP) into their practice. The initial task of implementing EBP into a curriculum or course can seem like a large task for educators and students. As a way to start scaffolding EBP concepts across the curriculum, a modified critical appraisal assignment was developed to teach therapeutic modality concepts. Objective The purpose of this action research project was to demonstrate how a modified critical appraisal assignment can be used to introduce the process and aspects of critical appraisal and begin scaffolding the development of critical appraisal skills over time. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the students' ability to (1) successfully locate relevant research needed to answer clinical questions and (2) successfully appraise the literature according to basic EBP strategy. From a program perspective, the modified critical appraisal assignment was a starting point from which to include EBP principles into didactic coursework. Design Seventeen athletic training students completed 3 modified critical appraisal assignments pertaining to the use of therapeutic modalities. Each paper included 5 sections: (1) clinical question, (2) key clinical findings, (3) clinical applicability based on information from the appraisal and significance of results, (4) article comparison table, and (5) implications for clinical practice, patient education, and future research. The instructor evaluated the assignments blind. Conclusions Students were generally able to complete the critical appraisal assignment; however, students had difficulty locating research that answered the clinical question. Students struggled to relate the key clinical findings of the research articles and implications for clinical practice to the given clinical question. Findings from this study have informed faculty teaching, including introducing EBP skills earlier in the curriculum and inserting assignments that stress various aspects of the critical appraisal process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 236-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinead Mary McGlacken-Byrne ◽  
Mark O'Rahelly ◽  
Peter Cantillon ◽  
Nicholas M Allen

Journal club is a long-standing pedagogy within clinical practice and education. While journal clubs throughout the world traditionally follow an established format, new approaches have emerged in recent times, including learner-centred and digital approaches. Key factors to journal club success include an awareness of the learning goals of the target audience, judicious article selection and emphasis on promoting the engagement of participant learners. This article reviews the role that journal club plays in modern clinical education and considers how to optimise its benefit for contemporary learners.


Author(s):  
Konstantinos Kyriakoulis ◽  
Athina Patelarou ◽  
Aggelos Laliotis ◽  
Andrew C Wan ◽  
Michail Matalliotakis ◽  
...  

Purpose: The aim of this systematic review was to find best teaching strategies for teaching evidence-based practice (EBP) to undergraduate health students that have been adopted over the last years in healthcare institutions worldwide. Methods: The authors carried out a systematic, comprehensive bibliographic search using Medline database for the years 2005 to March 2015 (updated in March 2016). Search terms used were chosen from the USNLM Institutes of Health list of MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) and free text key terms were used as well. Selected articles were measured based on the inclusion criteria of this study and initially compared in terms of titles or abstracts. Finally, articles relevant to the subject of this review were retrieved in full text. Critical appraisal was done to determine the effects of strategy of teaching evidence-based medicine (EBM). Results: Twenty articles were included in the review. The majority of the studies sampled medical students (n=13) and only few conducted among nursing (n=2), pharmacy (n=2), physiotherapy/therapy (n=1), dentistry (n=1), or mixed disciplines (n=1) students. Studies evaluated a variety of educational interventions of varying duration, frequency and format (lectures, tutorials, workshops, conferences, journal clubs, and online sessions), or combination of these to teach EBP. We categorized interventions into single interventions covering a workshop, conference, lecture, journal club, or e-learning and multifaceted interventions where a combination of strategies had been assessed. Seven studies reported an overall increase to all EBP domains indicating a higher EBP competence and two studies focused on the searching databases skill. Conclusion: Followings were deduced from above analysis: multifaceted approach may be best suited when teaching EBM to health students; the use of technology to promote EBP through mobile devices, simulation, and the web is on the rise; and the duration of the interventions varying form some hours to even months was not related to the students’ EBP competence.


1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
S D Carley ◽  
K Mackway-Jones ◽  
A Jones ◽  
R J Morton ◽  
W Dollery ◽  
...  

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