Diving into debate: Comparing discussion-based and single-presenter journal club formats in a large PM&R department

Background Journal clubs in physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) advance the educational mission by uniting colleagues to learn of literature updates, consider clinical applications, practice critical thinking, and engage in lively dialogue and community. Although discussion-based journal clubs have been shown to enhance quality, a model for their application across a large and clinically diverse department of PM&R has not been described, nor has one been evaluated in comparison to a single-speaker podium format. Objective To develop a discussion-based PM&R department-wide journal club, present elements of the journal club model in a manner that would enable replication, and assess effectiveness as perceived by participants, compared to the prior (podium-based, single-speaker) format. It was hypothesized that a discussion-based journal club would more effectively achieve educational goals and would be perceived by participants to be of greater quality and value. Design Pre-post educational intervention study, using surveys of PM&R resident and faculty participants. Survey items used a 5-point Likert scale. Unpaired 2-tailed t-tests were used to compare the formats. Setting A large academic PM&R department. Participants PM&R faculty, residents, fellows: 26 respondents (preintervention) and 26 respondents (postintervention) out of a total of 94 and 98 people invited to participate, respectively. Interventions A discussion-based departmental journal club was designed and implemented, replacing the previous single-speaker, podium-based journal club. Main Outcome Measures Pre- and post- intervention respondent ratings of (a) journal club quality and value, and (b) effectiveness in achieving specific educational goals. Results Compared to the traditional format, the discussion-based format more effectively met the educational objectives, was of higher quality and value as perceived by respondents, and increased desire to attend the activity. Conclusions This discussion-based journal club format can serve as a model for academic PM&R programs looking to enhance the educational value of journal club.

Automated summary

This study developed a discussion-based journal club in a physical medicine and rehabilitation department and found that this format more effectively achieved educational goals, was perceived as higher quality and value by participants, and increased desire to attend.