4. The Journal Club
- Journal clubs offer multiple benefits, including: linking research and clinical practice. assisting in keeping up to date with current research and literature and developing critical appraisal skills
- Journal clubs are believed to be an excellent instructional method to increase knowledge acquisition and improve the skills of critical appraisal of research
- In pharmacy, these clubs allow pharmacists and pharmacy students to understand the current drug research to help make evidence-based recommendations
The main learning objective of journal club assignments in Honours is to improve students’ ability to effectively evaluate and communicate findings of an article, while taking into consideration the study’s design, statistics, strengths and weaknesses, and where applicable its application to patient care. Additionally, journal club affords an opportunity to teach students about critically reading, interpreting, and reviewing the literature in order to add relevance to the application of evidence-based medicine to patient care.
The Journal Club is a good lead into searching the literature, and reading and summarizing articles as you begin to put together the framework for your literature review, which will inform your research proposal for your research or professional honours.