Occupational therapy (OT) is one of those unique professions that allows practitioners to be lifelong learners. Between staying updated with evidence-based practice (EBP), attending lectures or conferences, and ensuring continuing education requirements are met, we constantly adapt to new information around us. Participating in a journal club can be an excellent way to stay updated on all things OT while expanding your network of colleagues.
Participants in journal clubs have demonstrated value in learning from other OT practitioners, increased their network, and appreciated the opportunity to explore research content that is relevant to their role as an OT (Ellington & Janes, 2020). Journal clubs can be related to any topic, population, intervention, research, etc. The next question to consider is: how do I get started?
The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) has developed a Journal Club Guide to answer any questions related to journal clubs. Let’s break it down step-by-step:
- Intro to journal club – in this step, you might be asking yourself: why start a journal club? Why participate?
- Demonstration and advancement of leadership skills, increasing knowledge and application of EBP, and collaborating with other OT practitioners are good reasons to start.
- Logistical considerations – this is where you begin to identify a leader or mediator, determine a schedule and place to implement your journal clubs, promote your club, and determine if it meets with your state regulations for contact hours.
- Starting a journal club means making your schedule! Unsure about the time commitment? Start meeting just once a month.
- Identifying your focus – now you are ready to decide if you want to focus on topics, problems, literature, etc.
- Selecting Articles – You have your focus, where do you continue? By developing a research question, you can search journals and databases for articles to fit your criteria.
- Examples of accessible journals or databases include PubMed Central, Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, American Journal of Occupational Therapy, and Occupational Therapy Journal of Research.
- Keep in mind that some articles may require payment to view, but many databases have articles with open access that are free.
- Discussion questions – after reading the article, club members should come prepared to answer questions posed by the leader or mediator.
- Critically appraising articles – the last step is determining the quality of the article. AOTA offers resources for users to systematically appraise an article to ensure you get the best quality.
Besides its implications for EBP, journal clubs can also be a great resource for fieldwork educators and capstone mentors. After completion of an online journal club related to role-specific training for fieldwork educators, many participants found value in strategies to provide to students such as plans to more clearly communicate expectations and feedback, maintaining regular meetings with their students, encouraging students to seek feedback, supporting self-reflection of their students, and discussing communication styles (Ellington & Janes). Additionally, AOTA offers various journal clubs to participate in through their website.
Whether you want to expand your network, learn more about EBP, discover new strategies when taking OT students, or are just interested in research, consider the benefits of participating in or starting a journal club on a topic you are passionate about.
Written by Gianna Martello, OTS
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2021). KT toolkit journal club guide. https://www.aota.org/practice/practice-essentials/evidencebased-practiceknowledge-translation/kt-toolkit-journal-club-guide
Ellington, A. & Janes, W. E. (2020). Online journal clubs to enhance fieldwork educator competency in support of student experiential learning. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(3). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.035733