As a doctor, it can be an ongoing battle to stay up to date with the latest important research.

Whether it’s to ensure you’re providing the best care for your patients, standing out on post take ward rounds, making an impression at training programme interviews, or just feeding your curiosity... For those outside of a training programme, with less structured teaching time, the problem can feel more severe.

From today, Messly and JournalSpotting are collaborating to bring you the Journal Club app. In just a few minutes per week, you'll feel like you have your finger on the pulse of the latest publications, you’ll be armed with clinical pearls, and you’ll gain confidence in translating them into clinical practice. Oh, and you can impress on your next ward round too.

Since 2019 Dr Barnaby Hirons and Dr Jonathan Hudson have run JournalSpotting, a popular medical podcast aimed at keeping healthcare professionals up-to-date. They scour the latest medical literature, hand-pick a selection of the most interesting and relevant, then digest them on their Round Up episodes in a light-hearted and accessible way. Furthermore, they cover the climate crisis in their ClimateZone series and delve into complex topics with specialist interviews.

Built by Messly and utilising the expertise of the JournalSpotting team, the Journal Club is a mobile app which gives you a curated 'feed' of the very best in recent medical literature.

Access the Journal Club App here.

Open it up and you'll see a list of great articles, each neatly summarised by the JournalSpotting team with their verdict on the results. If you see a 🎙️emoji, then this article has been discussed on the podcast, so click the ‘Listen to Podcast’ button to get your ears in the right place! Want to check the article out for yourself? Click the links to read it in full. You can even filter by specialty and save your favourites for later.

What criteria are used to select articles?

Simply put, we choose the most interesting, practice changing, and sometimes amusing articles that we come across. The majority are related to general medicine based on our backgrounds, but we cover a wide variety.

Will I have to pay, or sign up to register?

No, the app is completely free and always will be. 

Do I have to download an app?‍

No, the Journal Club is designed to go on your mobile through the browser like a normal website. You can also access from your computer or tablet. However, if you add the webpage to your smartphone home screen it will work just like a downloaded app. Easy.

How often will new articles be added?

The feed will be refreshed with new articles each week.

What specialties will be covered?

Whilst the majority is related to general medicine and medical specialties, we also cover key articles from Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care, General Practice, Lifestyle Medicine, Climate Change, Mental Health and more. 

Is time spent on the Journal Club app valid for CPD?

Yes. From the JRCPTB (https://www.jrcptb.org.uk) website, “all informal and formal learning” in  doctors that are maintaining and developing the quality of their professional work count as CPD. 

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