A. Nayyar2, M. C. Roughton1, L. K. Kalliainen1 1University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill,Plastic And Reconstructive Surgery,Chapel Hill, NC, USA 2University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center,Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Introduction:
Journal club (JC) is a recognized evidence-based teaching method for trainees in medical education. Journal clubs help residents learn critical appraisal skills by reviewing literature objectively with an emphasis on the validity of the evidence. To our knowledge, the format and overall goals of JC in plastic surgery (PS) training programs remain undefined in existing literature. Our study attempts to elucidate how PS residency programs across the US implement JC in training.
Methods:
We distributed a 25-question survey by email to all 92 PS program directors (PDs) within the American Council of Academic Plastic Surgeons (ACAPS). The PDs were requested to forward the survey to residents to incorporate their views and experience. The survey was redistributed two and four weeks after the initial attempt. The questions pertained to the structure and perceptions about the role of JC in training. All responses were recorded and analyzed anonymously
Results:
We received responses from 30 PDs (32.6%), 18 attending faculty and 37 residents. Ninety-four percent of the respondents are affiliated to a program with regular JC. Most JCs meet monthly (72%), in the evening after the work day (75%), are organized by an attending faculty (43%) or the chief resident (32%), are associated with meals (65%) paid for by the department/faculty (53%), discuss >4 articles/session (71%) and employ 'Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (PRS)' journal as a resource (94%). The curriculum for most JCs varied with each academic year (92%) driven by current literature (61%), faculty preference (14%), and resident feedback (12%). Inservice exam scores did not play a role in articles discussed. Most JCs are mandatory for residents (96%) and voluntary for attending faculty (64%) with average attendance being 90% for residents and 45% for attendings. Most respondents ranked “keeping abreast with current literature” as the primary goal (59%) followed by “teaching critical appraisal skills” (31%) (Figure1). Most programs (70%) did not have dedicated study/research time for residents and the average time available for resident education was 2-3 hours/week (53%).
Conclusion:
The structure of JC is relatively consistent across programs. Time for resident education (including JC) accounts for <5% time of the 80-hour work week. Our study highlights some issues that may be helpful to maximize the use of this time to improve overall resident education.
