Hongxiang Zhang,1,2,* Xinyu Hu,1,* Changping He,1 Lei Wang,1 Mo Yang,1 Dasheng Lu1,2 

1Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China; 2Vascular Diseases Research Center of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui Province, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Hongxiang Zhang; Dasheng Lu, Email zhang_hxx@126.com; wydslu@wnmc.edu.cn

Background: Journal clubs have proved to be very important in postgraduate education. This method is based on a problem-oriented teaching methodology. However, it is less commonly used in teaching undergraduate medical students. The aim of our study was to apply a journal club learning format in the teaching of cardiovascular medicine to senior undergraduate students and to assess the improvement of students’ knowledge and skills in evidence-based medicine after participation in the journal club.
Methods: Participants were selected on a voluntary basis. A total of 30 undergraduate medical students were selected (15 students each from the fourth and fifth years). Each student was required to complete five journal club activities within 2 years. For each journal club activity, an instructor and two students were assigned to report separately. The content of the instructor’s report was the analysis of a typical clinical case or the diagnosis and treatment standard and new development of the related disease. The literature reported by the students should be related to the case or new development reported by the teacher.
Results: Changes in students who participated in the journal club before and after the training were assessed using student self-assessments, student peer assessments, teacher assessments, and modified EPIC scale assessments. Statistical analysis showed that students’ verbal expression, teamwork, intellectual curiosity, analytical skills, slide production, doctor–patient communication, clinical thinking, and research thinking improved significantly after participating in the journal club (p< 0.001).
Conclusion: Participation in journal clubs by undergraduate medical students improved students’ knowledge and skills in evidence-based medicine. A journal club format that combines literature reading and clinical cases is conducive to improving students’ overall competence.

Keywords: journal club, cardiovascular medicine, medical education