The JBJS Robert Bucholz Journal Club Support team recently sent out a “midterm” survey to this year’s awardees. One of the most helpful responses came from the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Trauma at the University General Hospital in Larisa, Greece.
In January the Larisa journal club team hosted a journal club that included “guest professor” and JBJS Deputy Editor (DE) Andrew Schoenfeld, MD, MSc, and their own department chair and JBJS DE Konstantinos N. Malizos, MD, PhD. Junior and senior residents and attending orthopaedists discussed a remarkable diversity of topics:
- The Cost-Effectiveness of Surgical Intervention for Spinal Metastases
- Increased Neurovascular Morbidity in Knee Dislocation Versus Multiligamentous Knee Injury
- Diagnosis and Management of Osteomyelitis in Children
- Pigmented Villonodular Synovitis
When asked about the recipe for a top-notch journal club, the Larisa team offered the following insight:
- Select subjects that are clinically significant and relate to residents’ everyday practice or their own research.
- Email the articles to the residents and faculty members 2 weeks before the meeting. Encourage participants to read the articles in advance and to come to journal club with questions.
- Engage both junior and senior residents in journal club. Senior residents should provide appropriate background and help junior residents prepare presentations.
- Form a Journal Club Committee comprised of residents from each postgraduate year and a faculty mentor. Committee members select the articles and run the journal club meetings.
Finally, several survey responses mentioned food as a powerful incentive for journal club attendance. Like all animals, humans are instinctively motivated by fuel. So plan for palate-pleasing fare that will bring your residents and faculty members flocking to your next journal club.
Click here for more information about the Robert Bucholz Resident Journal Club Support Program.
