CATCH-IT (Critically Appraised Topics in Communication, Health Informatics, and Technology) - Journal Club

Presentation schedule

• 2003

• 2005

About CATCH-IT (Critically Appraised Topics in Communication, Health Informatics, and Technology)

• Aim: CATCH-IT Journal Club sessions will 1) serve as an educational opportunity for students, faculty, researchers, and health professionals to acquire critical appraisal skills and to stay abreast of the eHealth literature; and 2) from these discussions we will develop and publish critical mini-reviews of important new developments and studies in the field of eHealth / health informatics, which we call CATCH-IT reports (Critically Appraised Topics in Communication, Health Informatics, and Technology).
• Presenters: Each session will be led by a presenter, who presents the paper (20 minutes), answers questions about the paper, and facilitates discussion. People interested in presenting something should approach the coordinator (GE). For the list of available dates see below.
• Coordinator: The presenter is expected to see the coordinator (GE) at least 2-3 weeks prior to the presentation and to briefly discuss the paper he/she wants to present (for external presenters not physically located at the Centre an email interaction should be sufficient). The presenter also emails abstract and bibliographical details of the paper to be presented to the participants, and attaches the pdf/electronic version  of the full article, if available.
• Paper selection: Papers should be selected from the current body of literature, and should not be older than 6 months (in exceptional cases up to 12 months).
• Selection criteria for papers include one or more of the following:
  • High quality papers with great potential impact on one or more groups of decision-makers in the health system;
  • Papers illustrating methodological flaws worth discussing (seeking to prevent them in future studies)
  • Papers providing an elegant solution to a (methodological) problem or otherwise addressing timely methodological issues or problems;
  • Illustration of new ideas or concepts that could represent food for reflection and discussion;
  • Direct impact on ongoing research at the Centre or elsewhere.
• Ideas for papers to present: Scan the table of contents of journals like BMJ, JAMA, JMIR or JAMIA. Scan websites like http://www.informatics-review.com/ or www.ihealthbeat.org. If you still don’t know what to present, come and see the coordinator, consult with other participants, or raise the question at the end of a session.
• Presentations: Presenters will present the background, methods, results, limitations and implications of the paper (20 minutes). It is up to the presenter to decide whether he/she wants to use PowerPoint or for example simple handouts with the most important figures or tables.
• Minute taker: To facilitate the preparation of the CATCH-IT reports a volunteer will be identified at the beginning of each session to keep some (electronic) notes of the session. In addition, participants may give their handwritten or electronic notes to the presenter after the session. The presenter may also go around the table before the end of the session asking everybody to comment on what he wants to see in a CATCH-IT report
• In-depth discussion: The aim of the CATCH-IT Journal Club is to discuss a single study in-depth, rather than discussing multiple different studies. However, the Journals Club may also be used for participants to – at the end of the session - briefly mention some other recently published papers (some of which may be picked up by others)
• CATCH-IT reports: After the Journal Club session the presenter prepares – based on the presentation and discussions – a 1000 word CATCH-IT draft report and circulates it among the participants, ideally within 1 week, but no later than 2 weeks after the session. Participants have 1 week to comment on the report. The report will then be submitted to the JMIR Associate Editor responsible for CATCH-IT reports (NN – in the beginning GE), who forwards the report for peer-review (preferably to the author of the original manuscript).
• CATCH-IT reports - authorship: The presenter will be the primary author of the report, together with the “CATCH-IT Group”. In the “acknowledgements” section the participants of the particular Journal Club session where the paper was discussed will be listed as members of the CATCH-IT Group. It is up to the presenter to invite and list other co-authors from the group who would do more than commenting on the draft.
• Letters to the editor: In some cases the group may also draft a letter to the editor commenting on a particular paper.
• Spread the word: Participants are urged to invite other people who may be interested in eHealth and the journal club. These include individuals from the Knowledge Media Design Institute, Bell Labs, Knowledge Translation Program, Centre for Research in Education, etc.
• Virtual collaboration: At a later stage, the sessions will be webcasted and participants from other organizations are invited to take part in virtual discussions..
• Academic credits: For graduate students affiliated with HPME (possibly also other departments?) the course can be designated as reading/research course for academic credits. Please see Gunther Eysenbach.