Has anyone been in a journal club?

[glasscandie]

I received an e-mail from my future supervisor at my summer internship, who told me he signed me up for a summer journal club. It sounds really interesting - has anyone been a part of one of these? How time-consuming are they? He didn't give me any details about meeting times, and I'm still waiting on a confirmation e-mail from the coordinator for the program.

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[glasscandie]

Also, is this something that's added to a CV, or it's just for fun?

 

[amphigory]

Maybe I'm missing something, but in all the labs I've been in, journal club meant: get together for a meeting where one person has chosen an article, everyone reads it ahead of time, that person presents it and it is discussed. Depending on the lab's expectations of interns you might go on the roster to present. This has been a common thing in every lab I've been in (both medicine and psychology) so I wouldn't think of it as a CV thing, unless your supervisor means something completely different.

 

[numbereight]

I received an e-mail from my future supervisor at my summer internship, who told me he signed me up for a summer journal club. It sounds really interesting - has anyone been a part of one of these? How time-consuming are they? He didn't give me any details about meeting times, and I'm still waiting on a confirmation e-mail from the coordinator for the program.

just like amphigory said. don't feel pressured to present until you feel like you're ready. alternatively, if you want to have a go presenting, go for it - but make sure to prepare with someone advanced and have a person there who will field questions that you can't answer. during the talks, keep your ears open and listen to what people are saying and how they are saying it. soon enough, youll notice themes and patterns of thought, criticism, and the types of experiments and controls that are required for "good science". don't get discouraged if you don't understand or the presenter goes too fast. in time, you'll be right there with everyone else.

i remember my first journal clubs. i spent a lot of time clueless and zoning out

 

[sosteadilygo]

We have journal club every other week and it's exactly what amph said. Some topics can get a little crazy if you're not very familiar with the area, but everything is so interesting you just try to take in what you can.
We also have Neuroanatomy club, which is also a learning experience for those of us who haven't had a college class in it, but a good one!

Have fun with it- ask a ton of questions and learn all you can!

 

[glasscandie]

Thanks everyone! I'm not sure if it's a journal club for the lab - I don't think it is, because the first choice topic is in Bethesda, and the second choice topic is in a neighboring town, and NIH is giant. At Hopkins there isn't a journal club, everyone just sort of collaborates - might also be because I'm the only intern there at the moment. Hopefully I'll get more information soon!

 

[PsyDr]

hopkins has multiple journal clubs.

 

[AryaStark]

I did something like this at my internship at Harvard. However, here it was called "reading group" and it was mandatory of all 10 of us.

 

[glasscandie]

hopkins has multiple journal clubs.

Not my lab.

 

[PsyDr]

interesting. i know all of hopkins imaging labs have journal clubs. i also know their psychiatry residency has a journal club.

 

[glasscandie]

interesting. i know all of hopkins imaging labs have journal clubs. i also know their psychiatry residency has a journal club.

I'm at the behavioral biology research center on the Bayview campus, school of medicine. No one ever mentioned a journal club to me. I'll have to ask - I'm sure one of my supervisors would have mentioned if there were, though.