Journal Club Standardization Tool: Helping participants get the JIST

Clinical pharmacy practice relies on the ability to critically evaluate clinical trials and apply their findings to patient care. The development of these skills begins in pharmacy school, develops during residency programs, and continues to mature while practicing clinical pharmacy. The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate student attitudes and perceptions following implementation of the Journal Interpretation Summary Tool (JIST) into a pharmacy curriculum.

The "journal club" is an activity implemented in many curricula with the intent to hone these skills. The JIST is a standardized template aimed at improving the consistency of a journal review by organizing major elements of a trial, allowing the facilitator and participants to navigate through key information and guide the journal club discussion.

Implementation of JIST resulted in an increased level of confidence for a majority of students (63.3%) when conducting and critically evaluating a journal article. More than 80% of students reported they were better able to critically evaluate a published article using JIST, and 91.9% reported JIST provided structure to the journal club process.

JIST provides the appropriate level of guidance and structure, particularly for the novice pharmacy student or pharmacist. The use of a standardized tool for journal club evaluation may lead to further improvements in applying literature to practice and other skills surrounding the critique of medical literature.