Critical appraisal of journal article by psychiatry PG residents using a new module: Impact analysis

A gap exists from evidence-based medicine (EBM) to clinical practice and there is a felt need to bridge this. Critical appraisal of scientific articles during Journal club by postgraduate (PG) residents will help them to understand and apply the scientific evidence into best clinical practice. Hence, a new module of critical appraisal of journal articles was used for Psychiatry Residents in a Medical College and its impact was assessed.

Nine psychiatry PG residents from three academic batches participated in the study after informed consent and Institutional ethical committee clearance. They were trained in the Colorado Psychiatry EBM Examination Test module. Subsequently, three consecutive journal article presentations of them were assessed under seven Subtests of the module.

There was gradual increase in the assessment scores of all PG residents with each journal article presentation. They also expressed satisfaction of the assessment method and felt confident of applying the principles of critical appraisal in their clinical practice in future.

This study evaluated the impact of a new module of critical appraisal of journal article by psychiatry PG residents. It was found to be acceptable by residents and improved their competency to apply literature-based EBM into their clinical practice. It is recommended for further multicentric evaluation on a larger sample.