Journal of Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems
Open Access
ISSN: 2376-0419
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2376-0419
+44 1300 500008
Eric Wombwell, Frank J Caligiuri, Elizabeth Englin, Stephanie Paul, Tinh Nguye and Whitney Palacek
Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness, convenience and utility of the novel practice of a student led internet-based journal club which connects students and faculty from different campuses and clinical sites to facilitate discussion of journal articles. Materials and methods: Journal clubs were presented to live local and distance audiences via Wimba ClassroomTM technology. After formal presentations, there was discussion period where questions were posed via different modalities. The presentation was recorded for participants to view at their convenience if unable to attend live presentation. After each session participants were invited by email to complete an anonymous, voluntary, online questionnaire to evaluate their perceptions of the experience. Results: A total of 47 student surveys were completed. A majority of participants agreed that internetbased journal club met the learning objectives (85.1%) as well as provided enhanced discussion (89.4%). 91.5% believed it provided a unique opportunity to easily attend journal club discussions. 61.7% agreed internet-based experience was superior to conventional journal clubs. 75% of presenters agreed there were a greater variety of questions compared to conventional journal clubs. The most commonly identified barrier was ease of technology use. Discussion/Conclusion: Wimba classroom™ based journal club demonstrated the advantages of increased accessibility and perceived improved breadth and depth of discussion. The novel use of a synchronous internetbased journal club demonstrated its effectiveness, convenience and utility as an alternative, and possibly a replacement, to conventional student led journal clubs in pharmacy school curriculums.