5987 Rethinking journal club : a modern approach to a traditional learning tool

Objectives Journal clubs provide an educational platform to develop skills in critical appraisal, keeping clinicians up to date with new evidence.¹ Journal clubs can feel daunting for doctors with less academic exposure, which can result in disengagement. Here, we present the evaluation of a journal club resource set developed by the Academic Subgroup of the London School of Paediatrics (LSP) which is designed to be unintimidating and transform Journal Club into an active learning experience. Methods Our team designed a Journal Club Resource Set to guide participants in their preparation, which includes a Standard of Practice Proforma, presentation slides, a database of papers and feedback forms, all of which are easily accessible on our website. The SOP proforma offers a step-by-step approach to a discussion-based Journal Club, giving advice on the choice of study and promoting use of Critical Appraisal Checklists (CASP). Facilitators are encouraged to split the audience into groups to discuss the various aspects of appraisal, encouraging team participation. This innovative approach to Journal Club has been trialed in 3 district general hospitals in London. Each trial was over a period of six months, with rotational allocations of all paediatric trainees to the role of the facilitator. Their feedback was evaluated with post-pilot surveys. Results Twenty-five (n=32) trainees actively participated in Journal Club, and 78.1% (n=25) gave feedback. Most trainees had previous experience of participating in Journal Club (n=20, 80%) but only few of them (n=5, 20%) had participated in a discussion-based journal club. Of the doctors with previous journal club exposure, sixteen (64%) had tried the role of the facilitator before. Those with previous facilitation experience praised the lack of stress and fruitful conversation that a discussion-based journal club promotes, and emphasized the fact that the audience was more engaged. The majority of the trainees (n=19, 76%) felt that their critical appraisal skills were significantly improved by this project. The most notable result is that all of the participants (n=25, 100%) reported enjoying and learning more from our proposed journal club proforma. Conclusion While the traditional journal club format has maintained consistency—junior staff present a chosen article and a senior faculty member facilitates discussion among attendees—the journal club's ability to keep pace has become unsustainable.² Our proposed resource set encourages trainees of all levels and background to actively engage in journal club, by providing step-by step advice and implementation of evidence-based medicine.³ In conclusion, applying this novel approach in more paediatric departments across the United Kingdom, would markedly enhance the sustainability and clinical utility of Journal Club. References Ebbert J, Montori V, Schultz H. The journal club in postgraduate medical education: a systematic review. Med Teacher. 2001 Sep 1;23(5):455–61. Phillips RS. What makes evidence-based journal clubs succeed? Evidence-Based Medicine 2004 Mar 1;9(2):36–7. Aronson JK. Journal clubs: 2. why and how to run them and how to publish them. Evid Based Med. 2017 Dec;22(6):232–4.