Using a Guided Journal Club as a Teaching Strategy to Enhance Learning Skills for Evidence-Based Practice

ABSTRACT

Journal clubs are used in both clinical and academic settings in order for clinicians and students to utilize current best-practices, become competent in evidence based practice and develop critical appraisal skills. Journal clubs encourage students to practice searching for relevant research, critically appraising articles, and contributing to open discussions with peers. Establishing the practice of reading and critiquing literature in the classroom can enable the creation of a habit of using current evidence when students enter practice. This article describes a strategy for delivering a structured academic journal club to support the learning of evidence based practice skills and students' perception of the journal club, including their overall satisfaction, knowledge base skills, and presentation skills. Students had an overall positive experience and perception of the guided journal club activity. From the instructor's perspective, this assignment was an excellent opportunity to engage students in learning the process of evidence based practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Evidence-based practice
• health care education
• journal club

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

About the Authors

Kimberly A. Szucs, PhD, OTR/L, Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Jeryl D. Benson, EdD, OTR/L, Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Brianne Haneman, MS, OTR/L, Graduate Student, Occupational Therapy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.