The OT Journal Club

Online journal clubs in medical field have been active for quite some time now (medicine, radiology and nursing to name a few). However, only a couple of regional online Occupational therapy journal clubs have been active. We at The OT hub with the privilege of having a global community , are pleased to introduce an Open Access Online Journal Club .

For those who don’t know what a Journal club is or how it functions, here is a short description about it.

The WHAT, HOW and WHY

A traditional journal club is a group of individuals who meet regularly to discuss critically the clinical applicability of articles in current medical journals . They were usually facilitated by a leader who selects a relevant article, prepares some learning points for discussions ahead of the meeting and guided face to face discussions with the participants

There is an over hundred years of unrecorded history for journal clubs in medical education. With a history of over a century, Journal clubs have acted as a powerful education tool. Traditional journal clubs evolved in healthcare to encourage scholarly activity and research awareness through reading and discussion of journal articles. Traditional Journal clubs however face challenges of scheduling participants and facilitators, recruiting local experts and having a limited local impact.

As Occupational therapist or perhaps this applies to any healthcare professionals, we are faced with the problem of keeping abreast with the rapidly enlarging volume of contemporary medical literature. With the advent of modern digital technologies, online education and learning is proving a boon for us as we are constantly pressed against time.

Also not to forget, the need of the hour for our profession right know is incorporating Evidence Based Practices. Research has proven that Journal clubs are an effective method for improving the evidence based practice knowledge and skills.

HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO IT

An open access article will be selected once every two months. The topic and article would be of the host's/facilitator's choice, details about the reviewed article will be posted in the Journal club section of our community forum’s page. The club will then be open for discussions , learning and participation.

If you are interested in becoming a facilitator,reviewing an article and leading discussions in the club feel free to contact us. Also if you wish for us for include your research papers/articles in the club. Send us a link /pdf ( It should be an open access article if published in any journals). Or simply leave a comment below and we will get back to you.

Stay tuned and Namaste for now.

Charmi Shah

Community forum lead from Mumbai ,India

The OT Hub team