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Subscribe to FCER's The Week in Chiropractic
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New FCER Journal Club Gives Clinicians the Opportunity to Work with Peers to Review and Critique Scientific Evidence Giving clinicians one more opportunity to learn and work with peers to keep current professionally, the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) will launch its newest clinician service on February 21, 2008 when the FCER Journal Club holds its first teleconference "meeting." The club, which will allow practitioners to interact with peers in reviewing and critiquing published scientific evidence from peer-reviewed journals, is being offered free of charge. The teleconference will be held at 1 p.m. Eastern time for approximately 60 minutes, with the discussion to be led by Stephen M. Perle, DC, MS, professor of Clinical Sciences and adjunct professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, Connecticut. The first paper to be discussed titled, "Assessment of diclofenac or spine manipulative therapy, or both, in addition to recommended first-line treatment for acute low back pain: a randomized controlled trial," is from the November 10, 2007 edition of The Lancet. "Our members have called for this Journal Club, which fits perfectly with FCER's new paradigm in helping the clinician use evidence-based research in daily practice," Charles R. Herring, DC, FCER President, said. "Evidence-based practice is the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. An evidence-based practice involves integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research. Clinicians should use both individual clinical expertise and the best available external evidence, and neither alone is enough," he added. "The format of the Journal Club allows for this blending of expertise and evidence." Current articles that are controversial or important pieces of new evidence will be reviewed by the club. The club will encourage clinicians to share thoughts about the research article and create a uniform template that lists the pros and cons of the chosen study. Club members pre-register and are sent a copy of the article to be discussed. On the day of the teleconference, the discussion leader briefs the participants by reviewing the abstract of the study, and then presents the critiques of the study, both pros and cons. "We want to show the participants a systematic way of reviewing a scientific article, and prove the point that simply looking at an abstract is a 'slippery slope,'" Robin Merrifield, FCER Director of Education, said. "The ultimate goal is to raise awareness about staying up-to-date with respect to the evidence as it emerges, and to help coach the clinician on how to critically evaluate a scientific paper." These events will be scheduled regularly, but the schedule is based on speaker availability and topics of interest. To register or for more information about the Journal Club click here, or call 800-622-6309. -30- |
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