What is the TERN Journal Club? As you may know, the new RCEM Curriculum has removed the critical appraisal exam, moving towards a portfolio-assessed process.

The aims of TERN are to improve research literacy and confidence. At TERN are keen to introduce evidence-based practice into our everyday working practice. The previous college focus on critical appraisal (by way of making it an exit examination) has meant that this has become the step of evidence-based practice we focus on. The most crucial of the five steps of evidence-based practice, and the one the literature suggests is the most neglected, is the actual application of the evidence to the patient in front of us.

We are planning to meet a number of needs through creating the Virtual Journal Club. Practically, trainees can demonstrate engagement with the new curriculum (and the SLO10 research outcome) and develop skills at appraising the evidence. We want to centre the application of evidence to clinical practice to the forefront of everyone’s mind. Too long we look at a guideline and follow it blindly – we want to go behind the evidence, behind the guidelines, and really get to know the evidence-base behind our practice.

Find our articles on RCEMLearning – they can be found below:

March’s TERN Virtual Journal Club – MAGraine: Magnesium compared to conventional therapy for treatment of migraines

April’s TERN Virtual Journal Club – Effects of a high-dose 24-h infusion of tranexamic acid on death and thromboembolic events in patients with acute gastrointestinal bleeding (HALT-IT)

May’s TERN Virtual Journal Club – Prospective validation of Canadian TIA Score and comparison with ABCD2 and ABCD2i for subsequent stroke risk after transient ischaemic attack

June’s TERN Virtual Journal Club – High flow oxygen and risk of mortality in patients with a suspected acute coronary syndrome: pragmatic, cluster randomised, crossover trial

July’s TERN Virtual Journal Club – A practical risk score for early prediction of neurological outcome after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: MIRACLE2

August’s TERN Virtual Journal Club – Inhaled Methoxyflurane Provides Greater Analgesia and Faster Onset of Action Versus Standard Analgesia in Patients with Trauma Pain: InMEDIATE: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Emergency Department

October’s TERN Virtual Journal Club – Diagnosis of Traumatic Pneumothorax: A Comparison between Lung Ultrasound and Supine Chest Radiographs

November’s TERN Virtual Journal Club – Identification of very low-risk acute chest pain patients without troponin testing