Ideas That Work: Journal Club

It’s critical to stay up to date on the latest clinical research, but how do you find the time? Start a weekly journal club. Every Thursday for our adult reconstruction service, 1 fellow, our resident team and any students whose schedules permit gather for around 45 minutes to review and dissect 2 articles — recent clinical studies or classic articles from peer-reviewed journals — that support a weekly topic that we cover in our Tuesday morning lecture. Not only does the weekly journal club keep our team current on the latest literature and spark some lively discussion on new trends, but it’s also directly led to a number of changes at our facility. A few examples:

• We started using a tranexamic acid after analyzing research that stated it was effective at preventing the need for blood transfusions and infections.
• We stopped using certain enhanced bipolar cautery devices that were proven to be ineffective.
• We altered some perioperative protocols to help optimize patients prior to surgery.

Brett Levine, MD, MS
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, Ill.
[email protected]