Developing an Annual Review of the Literature

Many national meetings and speaker series feature an "Annual Review of the Literature" (ARL) session in which an individual or team presents a sampling of articles, selected and prepared because they represent important current topics or new ideas in the discipline of interest. Despite this, there is little in the medical literature describing how to thoughtfully and systematically develop these sessions. We identify best practices that we have developed and used in the United States Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine (CDIM) over many years. These include identification of a theme, team assembly, timeline development, search strategy and rubric development and employment, and presentation planning strategies. Employing the steps described can help facilitate this otherwise arduous process.