Orthopaedic Journal Clubs are More Effective with Variety and Debates

Objective: To analyze the opinions of orthopaedic surgery faculty and residents on thecharacteristics that improve journal club effectiveness, engagement, and value. Design: Journal club series with 10 monthly meetings at a single ACGME orthopaedic surgeryresidency program during the 2022-2023 academic year with variable formats based onleadership style, themes, types and number of articles, and debates. Setting: Single ACGME orthopaedic surgery residency program. Participants: Sixteen faculty surgeons and 25 residents participated in the journal club seriesand 37 individuals completed the survey with 14 faculty surgeons and 23 residents. Intervention: A 12-question anonymous survey and free text section at the conclusion of theseries Main Outcome Measurements: Survey responses regarding effective attributes of journal clubmeetings, primarily use of debates and secondarily leadership style. Results: Faculty ranked a hybrid format (71%) with resident presentations and debates (86%)first. Residents were relatively more divided and overall ranked a hybrid format (52%) withattending presentations and debates (56%) first. Both faculty and residents ranked a debate orhybrid format among the top three formats (69 vs. 77%). Within the program, a debate or hybridformat was ranked first by 65% of respondents and among the top three formats by 74%.Conclusion: Faculty preferred that residents lead and present articles or debate topics whileapproximately half of residents preferred that faculty debate. The optimal journal club seriescombines multiple components and can be improved with variety, debates, and continuedopportunity for residents to demonstrate critical appraisal of how articles influence practice. Key Words: journal club, debate, ACGME, residency Level of Evidence: III, cohort