Teaching Critical Appraisal Through the Lens of Study Design in Journal Club

Training in endocrinology presents a major challenge: How to both develop a fellow’s medical knowledge and teach that fellow to independently increase that fund of knowledge as a future endocrinologist. Journal clubs hold a traditional role in teaching the most recent modern advances in medicine but frequently struggle to provide trainees with the skills needed to assess the quality of current literature. Using journal clubs to instill the skills needed for critical appraisal overcomes this difficulty and substantially enhances the value of journal clubs to trainees. Here, our journal club is reviewed, in which we teach critical appraisal by focusing on understanding study design as the key to assessing an article’s strengths and weaknesses. This journal club starts the year by reviewing study designs in a structured sequence, with sessions built to foster group participation and involvement of both fellows and faculty. Later, fellows put this learning into practice as they independently assess articles alongside their faculty. Generalizing this practice allows for implementation in other programs, including even those without faculty with a background in research methodology.