Journal Clubs in Medical Education: Contemporary Formats, Implementation Strategies, and Future Directions

Purpose: Journal clubs (JCs) remain an important component of medical education, providing opportunities for critical appraisal, evidence-based learning, and collaborative discussion. While traditional face-to-face meetings remain common, contemporary JCs have evolved to include online, hybrid, social media-based, and emerging AI-assisted models. This narrative review aimed to synthesise contemporary journal club formats, examine factors associated with successful implementation, and explore future directions in journal club education. Methods: A narrative review of the literature was undertaken. Bibliographic databases searched included PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and Scopus. Search terms included "journal club”, "medical education”, "evidence-based medicine”, "social media”, "online journal club”, "virtual journal club”, "flipped classroom”, and "artificial intelligence”. Findings were synthesised in a narrative format. Results: Journal clubs continue to provide a structured environment for collaborative learning and critical engagement with the scientific literature. Educational benefits include the promotion of critical appraisal skills, evidence-based medicine, lifelong learning, and the translation of research into clinical practice. Contemporary formats include virtual, social media-based, hybrid, flipped-classroom, and AI-assisted models. Factors associated with successful implementation include participant preparation, learner-centred design, structured appraisal frameworks, faculty involvement, and facilitative leadership. Conclusion: Journal clubs remain a valuable and adaptable component of medical education. Although their format has evolved considerably, their core educational functions remain unchanged. Successful implementation appears to depend less on the specific format adopted and more on participant engagement, preparation, and effective facilitation. Keywords: journal club, medical education, evidence-based medicine, critical appraisal, social media, artificial intelligence