ASHP Memo

This resource was developed by the ASHP New Practitioners Forum Clinical Practice Advisory Group, which is providing members the opportunity to share

resources that might assist in professional endeavors. ASHP is not responsible for, and does not officially endorse this resource, and further expressly

disclaims any and all liability for damages of any kind arising out of the use, reference to, or reliance upon any information contained in the resource. No

guarantee is provided that the content is correct, accurate, complete, up-to-date, or owned by the individual who posted it.

Example Journal Club Template

Background and Overview

Study Citation

Cite your article here using proper format.

Purpose/Background

Give a brief summary about why this study is important. You can also provide a

short background on the drug, disease state, or procedure that is being

evaluated. In addition, relevant literature on the subject can be discussed.

Study Objective

The objective, study aim or goal, should be clearly stated in the article and

copied directly so as not to change the meaning here.

Historical Context

What other related trials have been done prior to this study? Discuss any other

relevant literature on the subject here. Be sure to cite these below in the

reference list.

Methods

Study Design

● Things to consider*:

○ Retrospective vs. prospective

○ Randomization

○ Blinding

○ Case control vs. RCT vs. meta-analysis

○ Superiority vs. non-inferiority

○ Multicenter vs. single site

*This is not an all-inclusive list.

Funding

Disclose funding and consider potential conflicts of interest.

Population

Inclusion Criteria

Exclusion Criteria

List the major and

noteworthy inclusion

criteria.

List the major and noteworthy exclusion criteria.

Give consideration to if exclusions are appropriate.

The reason does not need to be included here,

though should be a point of discussion.

This resource was developed by the ASHP New Practitioners Forum Clinical Practice Advisory Group, which is providing members the opportunity to share

resources that might assist in professional endeavors. ASHP is not responsible for, and does not officially endorse this resource, and further expressly

disclaims any and all liability for damages of any kind arising out of the use, reference to, or reliance upon any information contained in the resource. No

guarantee is provided that the content is correct, accurate, complete, up-to-date, or owned by the individual who posted it.

Interventions or Study

Procedures

Describe the interventions performed in the trial. Was it active-controlled? What

was the dose of the medication(s) used? How often were they administered?

Was there a washout period for study drugs? Was there an enrollment period to

determine adherence? How were study participants randomized (i.e. 1:1, 1:2:1,

etc.)? How long was the intervention period? What was the median follow-up

time-frame? Was the follow-up period similar between the groups?

Outcomes

● Primary outcome/endpoint:

● Secondary outcomes/endpoints:

Statistical Analysis

What statistical tests were used for each set of data? You should evaluate if

these tests were appropriate for your discussion, though you don’t need to

include the appropriateness of the tests here.

Did the study include a sample size calculation?

Results

Study Sample

Sample Size

Baseline Characteristics

How many participants

were enrolled in the study

and in each arm?

Are they well matched between treatment groups?

Are there any noteworthy characteristics of this

sample that stand out to you?

Results

● You may include tables and/or bullet points to describe and summarize

the main results.

● Be sure to include how many patients dropped out of the study and

why.

● Be sure to include the results of the primary and secondary endpoints,

statistical significance (e.g. p-value, confidence interval, etc.). Consider

directing the audience to a specific table/figure within the article if

available.

● Consider also including number needed to treat (NNT) or number

needed to harm (NNH).

● Address noteworthy adverse event rates (if applicable).

Summary

● What were the key takeaways from the trial? The key takeaways should

not include any interpretation of the results. Interpretation of the results

This resource was developed by the ASHP New Practitioners Forum Clinical Practice Advisory Group, which is providing members the opportunity to share

resources that might assist in professional endeavors. ASHP is not responsible for, and does not officially endorse this resource, and further expressly

disclaims any and all liability for damages of any kind arising out of the use, reference to, or reliance upon any information contained in the resource. No

guarantee is provided that the content is correct, accurate, complete, up-to-date, or owned by the individual who posted it.

will be included in the discussion & conclusions.

Discussion and Conclusions

Evaluation of Study

Quality

Strengths of the Study

Limitations of the Study

List them here. Examples:

large sample size, external

validity, etc.

What could be improved about the study design?

What about the trial weakens its overall impact?

(e.g. internal/external validity, statistical vs. clinical

significance, inclusion/exclusion criteria

appropriateness)

Author’s Discussion and

Conclusion

● Summarize the author’s conclusion from the article.

Personal Discussion and

Conclusion

● Write out your conclusions. You may reference other articles and how

findings from those might play a role in interpreting this study.

Application to Patient

Care

● How will you use this information in practice (consider your practice site

specifically)?

References:

1. [citation for the study your journal club is focused on]

This resource was developed by the ASHP New Practitioners Forum Clinical Practice Advisory Group, which is providing members the opportunity to share

resources that might assist in professional endeavors. ASHP is not responsible for, and does not officially endorse this resource, and further expressly

disclaims any and all liability for damages of any kind arising out of the use, reference to, or reliance upon any information contained in the resource. No

guarantee is provided that the content is correct, accurate, complete, up-to-date, or owned by the individual who posted it.

Questions to Consider for your Presentation:

Background & Overview

● What are the current guideline recommendations for this particular disease state or topic?

● If applicable, how do we stratify the severity of disease being studied (i.e. A1C for patients with

diabetes, CKD stages, COPD GOLD classifications, etc.)?

● If this is a new therapy, what is the biological rationale for why it might be useful for a particular disease

state?

Methods

● How do the inclusion/exclusion criteria limit the population you can apply the results to?

● Were the patients appropriately randomized to their treatment groups? Was there stratification in the

process?

● Did the authors include a power analysis? Did enrollment achieve desired power?

● Was everyone (patients, physicians, study personnel, etc.) blinded to treatments?

● Was this an active controlled trial? If yes, does the active control depict the standard of care? Was it

appropriately dosed?

● Was the method used to study the primary outcome appropriate? For example, if a study is assessing

agitation, was the chosen behavioral scale appropriate and validated? Have other studies assessing

similar outcomes used it?

Results

● How do the baseline characteristics of the population in the study compare to the disease state being

studied?

○ Did exclusion criteria eliminate outliers and patients who may be at increased harm?

● For statistically significant results, how does the NNH compare to the NNT? Are they similar, or are the

two significantly different from each other?

○ Are these results clinically significant?

● Was the trial long enough to detect a difference?

● Are the potential treatment benefits worth the potential harm and costs?

This resource was developed by the ASHP New Practitioners Forum Clinical Practice Advisory Group, which is providing members the opportunity to share

resources that might assist in professional endeavors. ASHP is not responsible for, and does not officially endorse this resource, and further expressly

disclaims any and all liability for damages of any kind arising out of the use, reference to, or reliance upon any information contained in the resource. No

guarantee is provided that the content is correct, accurate, complete, up-to-date, or owned by the individual who posted it.

Discussion

● For your personal conclusions, would you change guideline recommendations based on the study? If so,

how? Will this study change how you practice?

● Would it be feasible/appropriate to apply the study to your specific institution?

● What additional limitations would you note besides the limitations described in the study?

● Is the population in the study similar to patients in your practice?

● Was there any bias present in the study? Who funded the study and what was the sponsor's role in the

study?

● How would you apply this to your practice?