Journal Club Schedule and

Journal Club Guidelines and Expectations

Fall 2014

Date:Name for JC Presentation:Name for Current Events:

Sept. 3 / Gretchen Schneider / ------
Sept. 10 / Jodie / Gretchen
Sept. 17 / NSGC AEC: No Journal Club
Sept. 24 / Carly / Jodie
Oct. 1 / Chelsea / Carly
Oct. 8 / Neeraja / Chelsea
Oct. 15 / Niri / Neeraja
Oct. 22 / Sterling / Niri
Oct. 29 / Emily / Sterling
Nov. 5 / Lamees / Emily
Nov. 12 / Lindsay / Lamees
Nov. 19 / Mary-Kate / Lindsay
Nov. 26 / Thanksgiving: No classes
Dec. 3 / Mary-Kate ??

Journal Club Guidelines and Expectations*

Goals of Journal Club

Journal Club is one of the educational activities of the Genetic Counseling Program.

Some of the goals of Journal Club are listed below. Faculty and students should keep these goals in mind when they choose and prepare an article for presentation.

  1. To become familiar with the latest developments in multiple aspects of human genetics.
  2. To present such developments in the field of human genetics to other students and colleagues in a succinct, understandable, and enjoyable manner.
  3. To read a scientific publication critically and identify weaknesses, strengths and areas for future research.
  4. And….to prepare for the workplace where giving journal clubs is a common occurrence.

Journal Club Schedule

Journal Club will occur every Wednesday except as noted on the schedule. Each second year student will present once in the fall and once in the spring.

Choosing an Article

Journal articles for the fall must be chosen from the list of journals provided (see appended list) and should be no more than one year old. Topics for journals can be placed into four broad categories:

1.Molecular/Cytogenetic

2.Clinical/management

3.Public policy/ethical issues

4.Psychosocial

Since the spring semester Journal Club will have a clinical focus, we ask that each student pick one article from either category 1,3 or 4 during the fall semester.

Students should have their article approved by Judith at least one week in advance before distributing it to everyone. And, before you submit your article to Judith, please read through the entire article – not just the title – to make sure that the paper is a good one, worthy of presentation. Constructive criticisms of published research are always welcome but do not choose a paper that you absolutely rip apart from start to finish! Finally, if you think your paper will take only 15 minutes to present – from start to finish-then you probably have not chosen a suitable paper!

First year students: Students should download and read the article prior to the JC presentation and fill out the JC Evaluation weekly. This is an opportunity for you to share your feedback about the paper being presented and the presenter’s style and skill in discussing the article in a way that is constructive, anonymous and confidential (i.e. only the presenter – and Judith – will see the results).

Second year students: Presenters must email a PDF of their article one week prior to their JC presentation to all GC students and faculty. Other second year students should download and read the article prior to the JC presentation and fill out the JC Evaluation weekly.

NOTE: We expect all students to read the Journal Club article before coming to Journal Club!

Presentation Expectations:

Students are expected to be their best professional selves….in dress (business casual), in manner, in choice of language, etc.

Students are expected to present and then critically assess the journal article, taking into account the study design, potential biases, the statistical analyses, interpretation of the results and conclusions. Students should also discuss how this article applies to genetics and how it should or should not be incorporated into clinical practice. Please check the pronunciation of all words (other than names) beforehand. Spelling should be checked as well – and please don’t rely solely on SpellCheck! Many are the applications for admission that talk about “asses” instead of “assess.”

Presentations should be approximately 30-35 minutes long. A general outline of time expectations is:

  • Background and Introduction: 5 to 10 minutes
  • Materials and Methods: 10 minutes
  • Results and Discussion: 10 to 15 minutes
  • Evaluation and Application of article: 5 minutes
  • Questions:5 minutes

However…do not include a slide saying that you’ll be presenting some background, then some materials and methods, followed by results and discussion. This is a given and is not necessary for a Journal Club .

Email a copy of your PowerPoint to Judith since we will use her Mac for all of the presentations.

We will digitally videotape each person’s presentation during the fall semester. Tapes will be given to the speaker so they can review them – and learn from them. No one else will receive the tapes – nor will they be kept in the program’s files.

We will also give each presenter a Self-Evaluation form to encourage each student to honestly assess his/her own “performance” and reflect on ways of improving.

The week following a student’s presentation, the presenter must meet with Judith to review the presentation, go over the Self-Evaluation form, review the results of the evaluations forms and reflect on the videotape of the JC. The best time for such a meeting is Wed. between 11 and 11:30 the week after you present.

Genetics and Genetic Counseling in the News

Following each Journal Club presentation, we will use the remainder of the time to have a brief discussion of a recent news article relevant to GC. This can be from a newspaper, magazine, news report-typically something that would reach the greater public (for example, the Angelina Jolie story or the recent report from UMass about their ability to silence the third chromosome 21 in cultured human cells).

  • Students will be expected to lead this discussion the week following their own journal club presentation.
  • An article or a link to the article should be circulated to students and faculty no later than the Monday before they are the discussion leader
  • No formal Powerpoint presentation is required. However, students should be fully prepared to facilitate the discussion on their assigned day. This can include, but not be limited to, addressing the following questions:
  • Was the information in this article accurate and presented in an unbiased way?
  • What was your initial reaction upon reading this article?
  • Do you think the lay public had a different reaction? If so what was it, and why?
  • How do you think this article portrays genetics, genetic testing and /or genetic counseling?
  • What impact do you think this information being disseminated to the public will have on views of disease or disability, genetic services, genetic counseling, etc.?
  • Do you think any further information in response to this news article would be warranted? If so, what?

*Adapted (with permission) from the guidelines used in the Northwestern Genetic Counseling Program. JTsipis August 2008, Revised by JT August 2010