Critical appraisal of journal club

By  Dr. Nadisha Badanasinghe

This activity is organized by the BOS in Medical Microbiology for trainees undergoing MD in Medical Microbiology. This is a compulsory activity for all MD trainees to present at least one journal article during their training period. The first meeting was held in September 2014. The First Coordinators were Dr. Dhammika Widanagama and   Dr. Dushyanthi Athukorala . Current coordinators are Prof. Neluka Fernando and Dr. Nadisha Badanasinghe

This activity is conducted on second Friday every other month .Two trainees present two articles on every session.

This activity is supervised and resourced by a Consultant Community Physician. The appointed resource person for this activity by BOS is Dr. Sharmini Prathapan (Consultant Community Physician/ Head Dept. of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayawardenapura)

 Objectives:

1. To systematically appraise and assimilate scientific evidence from journal articles
2. To critically read a journal article and draw conclusions applicable to clinical practice regarding specific clinical problems
3. To apply knowledge of study designs and statistical methods to the appraisal of clinical studies and other information on diagnostic and therapeutic effectiveness
4. To provide a written record that forms part of the learner portfolio
5. To facilitate learning of other trainees and Consultants
6. To assist and guide the trainees to prepare for the FRCPath examination
7. To improve communication skills with regard to verbalizing ideas; formulating hypotheses, and presenting solutions to problems
8. To improve professionalism by demonstrating a commitment to educational process exhibiting enthusiasm