Igniting Inquiry: Development and Implementation of a Novel Journal Club Curriculum in an Emergency Medicine Residency.

Abstract

The journal club is a long-standing pillar of medical education and medical practice, although its components and format are quite variable. In addition, selecting literature for discussion must strike a delicate balance between reviewing seminal and durable articles with that of emerging evidence, all while complementing a residency curriculum. Although the critical appraisal of literature is a fundamental skill of the practicing physician, a universal curriculum has not yet been optimized to facilitate journal club. We sought to design and implement a comprehensive, complementary, and evidence-based journal club curriculum that was modular in design, reproducible, and effective at generating participation. Our novel curricular design incorporates many evidence-based components, including optimizing the learning environment, providing ease of access to resources, and using educational methodology that immerses learners in the experience in a structured manner. In addition, the curriculum complements, but does not duplicate, the core residency curriculum. In 2020, we analyzed our data, using descriptive and comparative statistical methods. We demonstrated significant improvement in common metrics used to analyze the efficacy of the journal club, including attendance and participation. Significant improvements were seen in both resident and attending participation. Our design methods used resources easily available to our residency program and commonly available to others, with minimal time and resource cost. Further study is required to measure long-term educational outcomes.