students’ perception of implementing journal clubs in an undergraduate medical curriculum

Background: journal club is an essential teaching-learning activity that provides a forum fordeveloping skills in critical appraisal. it helps in keeping abreast of new knowledge, facilitatingthe application of new research in improving patient care, and aiding medical students tobe competent clinicians. the current study aimed to elucidate whether students are awareof the concept of a journal club and their willingness to implement a journal club in theirundergraduate medical curriculum.methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate medical studentsat the college of medicine and health sciences, the national university of science andtechnology, in february 2019. a structured questionnaire of 8 items was administered thatassessed the knowledge, attitude, and perceptions towards implementation of a journal club(jc) in an undergraduate curriculum among medical students. a total of 161 undergraduatemedical students participated in the study.results: of the 161 students, 112 (69.4%) were in their preclinical years, and 49 (30.6%) werein their clinical years. in all, 145 students were female and 16 were male. majority of studentsin their preclinical years (70.5%) were not aware of the journal club. among the five reasonsgiven for journal clubs to be included in the curriculum, the largest number of students (30.8%)wanted a journal club because it would help them to gain confidence to present cases in clinicsand exams. the most common reason students did not want a journal club was that it requiresa great deal of time to prepare (64.3%).conclusion: the introduction of a journal club would enhance the proficiency of undergraduatestudents to be lifelong learners. it is a robust educational tool to equip them with knowledge ofresearch practices that would aid in better patient care.