Impact of a Journal Club Elective Course on Student Learning Measures

Objective: This was a retrospective observational cohort study to assess the impact of a journal club elective course on measures of student’s longitudinal performance throughout the curriculum (PCOA, pharmacotherapeutics IV overall course score, research design and literature evaluation II [RDII] overall course score, and acute/ambulatory care APPE average scores).Methods: Classes of 2015 and 2016 were separated into two groups (with journal club elective and without). Primary and secondary outcomes were assessed using hierarchical linear regression.Results: There were 197 students included (73 journal club elective and 124 students without). After controlling for baseline confounders, enrollment in the journal club elective added 24.5 points to a student's overall scaled score on the PCOA. Enrollment in the journal club elective also added 2% to a student’s overall pharmacotherapeutics IV course score, RD II course score, and acute/ambulatory care APPE scores. All results were statistically significant....