A 30-Minute, Monthly, Live, Webinar-Based Journal Club Activity Alters the Self-Reported Behaviors of Dermatologic Surgeons.

BACKGROUND

Journal clubs provide a way to communicate advances in recent literature. In outpatient surgical subspecialties, such as dermatologic surgery, physicians may face challenges in finding or attending meetings pertinent to their practice.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the utility of a live web-based journal club in dermatologic surgery.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Monthly 30-minute journal club sessions covering 5 to 6 scholarly articles. Anonymous surveys were used to evaluate the utility and self-reported learning associated with each meeting.

RESULTS

From December 2012 to February 2015, 117 articles were reviewed. Survey data were acquired monthly, apart from 5 months of missing data. On average, the survey response rate was 37% (range: 7%-82%), with an average of 17 participants per monthly session (range: 9-25). The mean monthly usefulness score was 83.7 (101-point scale), with participants scoring their likelihood of returning in the future as 96.2 (0 = not likely, 100 = extremely likely). At each session, a mean of 68% of participants felt that at least one article would change their practice of medicine.

CONCLUSION

A monthly online and telephonic journal club may be a practical and effective way to inform dermatologic surgeons of new developments in high impact literature and may influence improvements in individual practice.