Impact of a National Journal Club and Letter Writing Session on Improving Medical Students’ Confidence with Critical Appraisal [Response to Letter]

Abstract

Shyam Ajay Gokani, 1 Ekta Sharma, 2 Tanisha Sharma, 3 Shyam Venkatesan Moudhgalya, 3 Subothini Sara Selvendran, 4 Nikhil Aggarwal 5 1Research Department of Primary Care & Population Health, University College London (Royal Free Campus), London, UK; 2Academic Section of Vascular Surgery, Division of Surgery, Imperial College London, Charing Cross Hospital, London, UK; 3Department of Medicine, St George’s University of London, London, UK; 4Department of Medicine, Southampton University, Southampton, UK; 5Department of Medicine, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UKCorrespondence: Shyam Ajay GokaniResearch Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London (Royal Free Campus), London, UKTel [phone]Fax [phone]Email [email protected] thank the authors for their considered comments and insightful questions. 1Ng and Yap mention that they would like more information on the training and experience of the tutors. All of the tutors involved in delivering critical appraisal small group lectures had attended a minimum of a one-week teaching skills course. Additionally, they were all academic foundation doctors. In London, this entails competitive selection to a research post after a rigorous interview involving critical appraisal of an abstract, and a proven interest in academic medicine. Approximately half of the additional tutors involved in mentoring were also academic foundation doctors, and most had undergone teaching skills courses as a compulsory part of their medical training.This is in response to the Letter to the Editor. Read the original article.

Keywords

• education
• evidence-based medicine
• scientific letters