A Scoping Review for Debate-Style Journal Clubs in Health Professional Education

The objectives of this scoping review are to (1) describe the available literature regarding the utility of the debate-style journal club for health professional learners on literature evaluation skills and (2) report the themes found within debate-style journal club research and assessments in the context of professional education.

A total of 27 articles written in the English language were included in this scoping review. Published evaluations of debate-style journal clubs have been predominantly based in the pharmacy profession (48%, n = 13), but are reported in other health professions, such as medicine (22%, n = 6), dentistry (15%, n = 4), nursing (7%, n = 2), occupational therapy (4%, n = 1), and physical therapy (4%, n = 1), as well. The skills assessed in these studies often included critical literature evaluation, application of literature to patient care, critical thinking, knowledge retention, use of supporting literature, and debate-specific skills. Learners typically reported better understanding and application of the literature, and enjoying the experience more than traditional journal clubs, but note the increased assessor and learner time requirement for debating. Pharmacy learner-specific articles more often utilized a traditional, team-based debate format, incorporated grading rubrics for skill assessment and debate performance, and included a grading component for the debate in the course.

Debate-style journal clubs are well-received by learners but require an additional time commitment. Debate platforms, format, rubric use and validation, and outcome assessment vary across published reports.