Impact of a blinded journal club on student pharmacist knowledge and retention

The blinded journal club (BJC) is an alternative format to traditional journal clubs (TJC) to teach evidence-based medicine (EBM) skills. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a BJC on student pharmacist knowledge related to EBM and clinical skills.

This was a prospective, non-randomized mixed factorial study of third-year student pharmacists enrolled in General Medicine I (GMI) Introductory Pharmacy Practice Experience in Spring 2025. Participants were assigned to control or intervention groups based on their GMI preceptor. The control group completed a TJC while the intervention group completed a BJC. A 12-item assessment comprised of eight items related to EBM and four items related to clinical knowledge was completed before and after each activity. The BJC group also completed a late-post assessment two months after the BJC to evaluate retention. Changes in pre-post-assessment scores were compared between groups and changes in pre-, post-, and late-post assessment scores were compared within the BJC group. A 20-item perception survey was administered to the BJC group after the late-post assessment.

Seven students in the TJC group and 17 in the BJC group completed pre- and post-assessments. There were no differences in EBM score changes between groups. In the BJC group, there were improvements in total, clinical knowledge, and EBM scores from pre-assessment to post- and late-post-assessment scores. Overall, there were positive perceptions of literature evaluation skills related to the BJC.

The BJC may be a feasible alternative to TJC to teach evidence-based medicine skills.