Question

[Optimistic]

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hi guys,
I was debating about whether to join this journal club at my school. I heard that during rotation and residency you need to read and present scientific papers.So I have to be really good at reading interpreting and presenting them. But now somebody told me that its really not all that important . So I am really confused because If I do join the club I, have to present paper and also be prepared with questions when other people are presenting.so its gonna take a lot of time. At the same time I think it would be worth spending time now if its gonna help in future. However if its not all that important then I can use same time for studying. what do you guys think????? 😕
thanks🙂

 

[doepug]

Everyone at my institution spends a considerable amount of time dissecting papers. We're expected to keep up with major journals (NEJM, JAMA, +/- Lancet) and many students take part in the myriad array of journal clubs available.

Go for it - part of being a physician is being on top of your game, and that means reading current literature. The sooner you learn how to analyze a paper, the better.

doepug

 

[fourthyear]

I say use the time for studying, unless you are genuinely interested and will have fun with the journal club. Dont' do it just because you feel you should for residency. Med School is the time to build the basic fundamentals, so if a choice must be made between the two, i'd skip the journals and go with studying. You do need to keep up with current literature, but first you must understand the established knowledge base.

 

[DermRes]

I disagree.

Journal club is invaluable. That is why it is in every residency programs' didactic curriculum.

Learning to read journal articles critically if very important for physicians. There are quite a few published studies that are improper done and totally misleading. By analyzing these articles, you become better at reading critically.

Anyone can read abstracts! But you will be the only person who can decide what is true or not for yourself. Your practice of medicine will be dependent on these perceived truth!!

 

[shag]

FWIW:

My school has an "Evidence Based Medicine" course, but no official journal club where students can participate. On my clinical rotations, discussion of journal articles was common among the academics (who were grading me). I felt deficient in this area and had little time for independant study on this topic b/c I was either working or reading on patients. I really wished that I would have spent more time learning to dissect articles in my first 2 years when I had time.

 

[Resident Alien]

The Introduction to Clinical Medicine curriculum at our univ has journal club included throughout. As future physicians, we ought to have the ability to discern b.s. from "breakthroughs". It isnt folly to envision the doctor basing decisions on employing an intervention based on papers.