Background

Many residencies in internal medicine and family practice have had “journal clubs,” where a group of residents and/or staff review a medical journal article. The purpose of journal club varies, but a recent review article stated that most residency directors wanted residents to improve their “critical appraisal skills” in interpreting journal articles. Other functions include: keeping up with the literature and enhancing knowledge of basic statistics and epidemiology.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), has recently pushed efforts of “enhancing residency education through outcomes assessment,” by launching the ACGME Outcome Project. The ACGME has endorsed six general competencies for all residents. The heading below is the Practice-Based Learning and Improvement competency endorsed by the ACGME. “Club J” is an important way of learning this specific competency.

PRACTICE-BASED LEARNING AND IMPROVEMENT

Residents must be able to investigate and evaluate their patient care practices, appraise and assimilate scientific evidence, and improve their patient care practices. Residents are expected to: analyze practice experience and perform practice-based improvement activities using a systematic methodology locate, appraise, and assimilate evidence from scientific studies related to their patients’ health problems obtain and use information about their own population of patients and the larger population from which their patients are drawn apply knowledge of study designs and statistical methods to the appraisal of clinical studies and other information on diagnostic and therapeutic effectiveness use information technology to manage information, access on-line medical information; and support their own education facilitate the learning of students and other health care professionals

www.acgme.org