Other Virtual Journal Clubs Autumn 2024 - Spring 2025
12-05-2025 Add to iCal
This is an initiative to promote the internationalisation of Doctoral educational programmes at Karolinska Institutet (KI), Doctoral Programme in Health Care Science (PUF-V), and the University of Zürich (UZH), PhD Programme in Care and Rehabilitation Sciences.
Registration:
Please register here by 28 August 2024. We have limited participation slots, so don’t wait to register.
Registration link (for KI students): https://forms.office.com/e/L5Kszaj5E5
Registration contact (for UZH students): mailto:nadine.heinz-hartmann@uzh.ch
For questions related to the registration or participation requirements / regulations, please contact mailto:puf-v@ki.se (KI students) or mailto:nadine.heinz-hartmann@uzh.ch (UZH students).
For questions related to the activity itself, please contact the activity leader, Marco Riguzzi, marco.riguzz@uzh.ch.
Students will be informed by August 30 whether they have been admitted and are asked to propose the paper they would like to present by September 3 to marco.riguzzi@uzh.ch. The schedule including the presenters as well as the paper to be studied by 23 September will be sent to all definite participants on September 6.
Background:
For Doctoral students, it is fundamental to improve their reading skills and gain practice in critiquing and appraising research. One common method to enhance skills in interpreting research results and evaluating research designs is participating in journal clubs. Virtual journal clubs can be a safe space where Doctoral students can also improve their presentation and communication skills and expand their professional network. The club may serve to connect researchers and students, which is particularly beneficial for those practitioners who have few local peers. Connecting with peers globally via online journal clubs is a natural in today’s world of medical and health care education, which will accelerate knowledge transfer and become an increasingly important tool in continuing medical education and research.
Aim:
To promote the development of critical appraisal skills among Doctoral students and the ability to articulate these accurately, covering
- Geographically different research practices and topics.
- Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods study designs.
- Useful insights for own research activities and competencies as a scholar.
Methodology:
A group of Doctoral students will meet virtually via Zoom to discuss articles from the health and rehabilitation science literature, their study designs and choice of methods (quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods), and their interpretation of results. The virtual format provides a safe learning environment and allows Doctoral students to engage with each other locally as well as abroad. For an engaging exchange, students are asked to ensure that their camera is in operation.
To encourage active participation, one of the participating Doctoral students will be assigned to choose a research article or manuscript and to facilitate the session. The facilitator may create a presentation to provide a visual approach to learning and discussion. In case there are more Doctoral students participating than there are sessions, groups of two will be formed.
The sessions are hosted by a senior researcher (activity leader), who will support discussion and ensure a safe learning environment.
Preparation and research article or manuscripts to be discussed:
Each participating Doctoral student is asked to propose original research published (published) that s/he would like to present by e-mail to the activity leader (see below) by the end of the registration period of the course. Articles must concern the field of public (global) health, health care in general, medicine, caring sciences, nursing, midwifery, physio- or occupational therapy or rehabilitation sciences.
The articles will be made available to all participants the latest two weeks before the respective session to all participants. All Doctoral students are asked to study the scheduled articles / manuscripts before the respective sessions, using the discussion points below, so that an informed learning discussion can take place. Active contribution to the discussion in each session is expected.
Discussion points1:
- Is the purpose of the article clearly stated?
- What is the research question and/or hypothesis?
- What is the study design? Could another design be used that would be more suitable to the research question?
- How was the sample drawn? Inclusion and exclusion criteria? To which population are the results likely generalizable, and is this accurately stated in the article?
- How are constructs operationalized for a valid data collection?
- Do the quantitative statistical tests, the qualitative data analysis, or integration / triangulation approach answer the research question?
- Was the interpretation of the result appropriately done?
- Are strengths and limitations discussed, could some more be added?
- Does the result/conclusion relate to the aim and research question?
- Is the article relevant to the field of study (i.e. science, practice, policy)?
Activity leader:
The activity leader for the virtual journal club for the academic year 2024/2025 is Marco Riguzzi, PhD, a senior researcher from the University of Zürich (UZH). He will provide guidelines for the articles being reviewed and for what is expected of the presenter and the attendees. When you are confirmed as a participant, submit a research article to Marco Riguzzi at marco.riguzzi@uzh.ch by the 03 September 2024. Study the articles before each session to participate actively.
Participants:
Six to eight Doctoral students from Karolinska Institutet and the University of Zürich (UZH).
Dates and Time:
Dates: 23 September 2024, 02 December 2024, 24 February 2025, 24 March 2025, 07 April 2025, 12 May 2025 (Mondays)
Time: 16:00-17.00.
Criteria:
Successful participation in the Journal Club is graded pass/fail based on the individual presentation and active contribution to the discussion in each session. Virtual participation is mandatory, although one justified absence is permitted.
Reference:
1 Oliphant, R., Blackhall, V. Moug, S., Finn, P., Vella, M., & Renwick, A. (2015). Early experience of virtual journal clubs. Clinical Teacher, 12(6), 389-393. https://doi.org/10.1111/tct.12357