Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Is a Journal Club Effective for Teaching Critical Appraisal Skills?

A Controlled Trial With Residents in Psychiatry

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Academic Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of a journal club for teaching critical appraisal skills to residents in psychiatry and their transfer of those skills to clinical scenarios. Twelve residents participated in a 12-week journal club, and 12 residents were matched control subjects. Following the journal club, there remained no difference in performance between the two groups, although two-thirds of the journal club residents did show an improvement or no change, compared with one-third of the control residents. Furthermore, there was a trend for the journal club residents to require less time to review an article. This format of a journal club may not be an effective method for teaching critical appraisal skills to residents in psychiatry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Physicians for the Twenty-First Century. The GPEP Report: Report of the Panel on the General Professional Education of the Physician and College Preparation for Medicine. Washington, DC, Association of American Medical Colleges, 1984

    Google Scholar 

  2. Heller RF, Peach H: Evaluation of a new course to teach the principles and clinical applications of epidemiology to medical students. Int J Epidemiol 1984; 13: 533–537

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Radack KL, Valanis B: Teaching critical appraisal and application of medical literature to clinical problem solving. Journal of Medical Education 1986; 61: 329–331

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Bennett KJ, Sackett DL, Haynes RB, et al: A controlled trial of teaching critical appraisal of the clinical literature to medical students. JAMA 1987; 257: 2451–2454

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Frasca MA, Dorsch JL, Aldag JC, et al: A multidisciplinary approach to information management and critical appraisal instruction: a controlled study. Bull Med Libr Assoc 1992; 80: 23–27

    CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Gehlbach SH, Bobula JA, Dickinson JC: Teaching residents to read the literature. Journal of Medical Education 1980; 55: 362–365

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Linzer ML, Brown JT, Frazier LM, et al: Impact of a medical journal club on house staff reading habits, knowledge and critical appraisal: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1988; 260: 2537–2541

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Kitchens JM, Pfeifer MP: Teaching residents to read the medical literature: a controlled trial of a curriculum in critical appraisal/clinical epidemiology. J Gen Intern Med 1989; 4: 385–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Seelig CB: Affecting residents’ literature reading attitudes, behaviors and knowledge through a journal club intervention. J Gen Intern Med 1991; 6: 330–334

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Norman GR, Shannon SI: Effectiveness of instruction in critical appraisal (evidence-based medicine) skills: a critical appraisal. Canadian Medical Association Journal 1998; 158: 177–181

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Swanson DB, Norman GR, Linn RL: Performance-based assessment: lessons from the health professions. Education Research 1995; 24: 5–11

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto, Canada

    Cynthia H. Y. Fu M.D., M.Sc. (Chief Resident, Clarke Site, Clinical Research Fellow),  David S. Goldbloom M.D. (Physician-in-Chief, Professor of Psychiatry) &  Paul Garfinkel M.D. (President and CEO, Professor of Psychiatry)

  2. Institute of Psychiatry and Maudsley Hospital, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK

    Cynthia H. Y. Fu M.D., M.Sc. (Chief Resident, Clarke Site, Clinical Research Fellow)

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Brian Hodges M.D., M.Ed. (Vice-Chair of Education and Assistant Professor) &  Paul Garfinkel M.D. (President and CEO, Professor of Psychiatry)

  4. Centre for Research in Education, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada

    Glenn Regehr Ph.D. (Associate Director, Associate Professor)

  5. Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Glenn Regehr Ph.D. (Associate Director, Associate Professor)

Authors
  1. Cynthia H. Y. Fu M.D., M.Sc.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Brian Hodges M.D., M.Ed.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Glenn Regehr Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David S. Goldbloom M.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Paul Garfinkel M.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cynthia H. Y. Fu M.D., M.Sc..

Additional information

The work was done at the Clarke Site, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College Street, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R8, Canada.

Dr. Fu gratefully acknowledges the support by an Educating Future Physicians of Ontario Fellowship.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fu, C.H.Y., Hodges, B., Regehr, G. et al. Is a Journal Club Effective for Teaching Critical Appraisal Skills?. Acad Psychiatry 23, 205–209 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340056

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03340056

Keywords

Search

Navigation