Defining specific goals and objectives for a Journal Club is a key factor in assuring its success, measured both in terms of high levels of resident and faculty participation and longevity. The following is an outline of the structure used for the Journal Clubs conducted in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center.

EBM Journal Club Course Description

Date/Time:

• The Resident EBM Journal club will be conducted at noon on the last Tuesday of each 4-week MFM rotation block.
• The Student EBM Journal Club will be conducted at noon on the last Wednesday of each 4-week elective block.

• All interested Faculty, Residents, Students, and Staff

• Department of OBGYN Large Conference Room

• Francis S. Nuthalapaty, MD (see decription of responsibilities below)

• Departmental Biostatistician
• Student Clerkship Coordinator
• Residency Coordinator

• To improve the participants' knowledge of current women's health literature
• To improve the participants' knowledge of study design and statistical methods and ability to apply this knowledge to the appraisal of clinical studies and other information on diagnostic and therapeutic effectiveness
• To improve the resident’s ability to facilitate the learning of other health care professionals

The journal club will be conducted as a required component of the MFM Rotation for both PGY-2 and PGY-3 residents and for all 4th year medical students completing Acting Internships and/or Electives. Following self-directed reading of the introductory course material (Greenhalgh), an article pertaining to one of the User’s guide will be evaluated and presented at the conclusion of the rotation with the aid of a faculty mentor. The presenter gives a structured presentation using the standardized outline and MS PowerPoint template. Following the structured presentation, the floor is open for comments from the other participants. Following the session, the resident presenter and faculty mentor prepare a written record of the proceedings in the form of an expanded abstract with a three to four paragraph commentary, which is distributed to all participants and added to the presenter's educational portfolio.

The article must have been published within the past 2 years and not previously presented. The study must contain no major flaws of methodology; and the results of the study, if valid, must impact clinical practice in some way.

1. The course director will identify an article that is appropriate to the User’s Guide and circulate that article to all participants.
2. The course director will assign the article to a resident/student presenter and a faculty mentor.
3. Presenters should prepare a structured presentation, using the appropriate User’s Guide, Checklists for Critical Evaluation and MS Powerpoint presentation template.
4. Following the presentation, the resident presenter and faculty mentor will complete the expanded abstract and submit it to the course director.