Advocacy
Medical Education
PM&R Research
AOCPMR JOURNAL CLUB
Brought to by the AOCPMR Student Council
AOCPMR Members:
The AOCPMR journal club is an important, educational, and integral aspect to learning medicine. The field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation treats patients with a wide variety of pathology, ranging from traumatic brain injuries to oncology, and amputation to post myocardial infarction. Reading relevant and current literature allows the physician to practice evidence based medicine, and enables the use of proper treatment modalities. The journal club facilitates this practice through presenting to your peers and creating a better understanding of the material. The Research Representative (a.k.a Journal Club Chair) is key to the function of the journal club.
Chapter Research Liaisons/Journal Club Chairs:
The role of the Chapter Research Liaison/Journal Club Chair is to coordinate the monthly meetings for his/her local chapter. The National Student Council Education Committee will be in contact with the Research Representative, and he/she will obtain each month’s chosen article with a summary. The Research Representative will then distribute the article and summary to their respective local chapter, and will have the duty to arrange a time and place to meet for discussion. The size of the meeting is not as important as the actual discussion around the topic and learning the evidence based medicine. The articles will not only assist you in board preparation, but will also contain major topics seen throughout your clinical future. Whether your meetings are conducted over lunch or over coffee before the start of the school day, take a few minutes to discuss the important content of the articles. Invite the board, the entire chapter or any others that would like to join the discussion.
If you have any questions at all about the AOCPMR Journal Club, if you are unsure when your chapter’s Journal Cub is meeting next, or if you need help organizing your Journal Club, please do not hesitate to contact us. We’d love to hear from you as soon as possible, so we can help your chapter.
Sincerely,
Kristin Garlanger, AOCPMR Student Council Education Committee Representative
Richard Swedarsky, AOCPMR Student Council Education Committee Representative
studentcouncil@aocpmr.org
Journal Club Schedule 2011-2012 (pdf)
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Journal Club February 2012: Cancer Rehabilitation
Article title: Neuromuscular Complications of Cancer and Cancer Treatments
Authors: Christian Custodio, M.D.
Journal/Source: PM&R Clinic of North America, February 2008
Reviewer: Gregory Burkard Jr., OMS-IV, NYCOM, Educational Committee, AOCPMR Student Representative
Journal Club January 2012: Head Trauma During Infancy, Inflicted vs. Non-Inflicted
Article title:
Mechanisms, Clinical Presentations, Injuries, and Outcomes From Inflicted Versus Noninflicted Head Trauma During Infancy: Results of a Prospective, Multicentered, Comparative Study. Hymel et. al. Pediatrics May 2007
Journal Club- December 2011: Botulinum neurotoxin for the treatment of movement disorders
Article title: Assessment: Botulinum neurotoxin for the treatment of movement disorders D.M. Simpson et al. American Academy of Neurology, May 6, 2008
Journal Club- November 2011: Adult Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injury
Article title: Adult Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injuries
Authors: Alexander Shin, MD; Robert Spinner, MD; Scott Steinmann, MD; and Allen Bishop, MD of Mayo Clinic
Journal/Source: Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery, 2005; 13:382-‐396.
Read More…
Journal Club- October 2011: Disorders of Consciousness
Article Title: The Minimally Conscious State: Definition and diagnostic criteria Authors: JT Giacino et. al. Journal/Source: Neurology 2002;58;349-353 Severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) may lead a patient to be in a vegetative state (VS) or a minimally conscious state (MCS). The purpose of this article is to discern the diagnostic criteria for MCS because preliminary [...]
Journal Club- September 2011: Insights into Phantom Limb Pain
Phantom limb pain (PLP) is described as pain in a body part that has been amputated. Previously this pain has been thought to be psychological in origin or to stem from pathologic changes in the amputation stump. More recent studies are pointing to PLP being a phenomenon of the CNS that is related to plastic changes in the brain stem, spinal cord, and cortex. This article discusses the pathophysiologic mechanisms of specific peripheral and central changes that may explain this phenomenon.
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Journal Club- August 2011: The treatment of acute low back pain- bed rest, exercise, or ordinary activity?
Acute low back pain is one of the most common reasons for consulting a primary care physician in the industrialized countries. The direct cost of medical care and the indirect costs to society of absenteeism from work due to backache are huge. Physicians commonly prescribe bed rest for acute low back pain, although only a few controlled trials have assessed its effectiveness.
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Journal Club- January 2010: Prospective, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trials in interventional spine: what the highest quality literature tells us
Article Download: Prospective, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trials in interventional spine: what the highest quality literature tells us Conclusions from Article about the effectiveness of Interventional spine injections Fluoroscopically guided lumbosacral transforaminal epidural corticosteroid injections are effective in the short term, and possibly at 6 months, in treating acute/subacute lumbosacral radicular pain [13,18]. Fluoroscopically guided lumbosacral [...]
