Course Syllabus

ANG 6905: Medical Anthropology Journal Club

FALL 2016

 

Fridays, 5^th period (11:45 am-12:35 pm)

Med Anthro Lab (TUR B103)

Instructor: Dr. Alyson Young

Office: Turlington B133/Grinter 425

Office Hours: Wednesday,10:40 AM- 12PM & Friday, 2-3:30PM

Office Phone: 352-392-1896

Email: alys.yng@ufl.edu

Course Website: https://ufl.instructure.com/courses/334015

Syllabus PDF

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course focuses on intensive discussion of current peer-reviewed literature in medical anthropology and neighboring disciplines, with an emphasis on empirical research articles published in the last two years. The course takes the format of a journal club, an established part of graduate training in many health-related disciplines.

Learning Objectives

1. To broaden your understanding of current trends in medical anthropology and neighboring disciplines.
2. To enhance your ability to analyze the theory, methods, and significance of peer-reviewed articles from the primary literature.
3. To improve your presentation skills and ability to participate in discussion of the primary literature.

Course Format

Each week one student will present and lead a discussion of one peer-reviewed article from medical anthropology or an allied discipline. The presenter is responsible for selecting an article for discussion, in consultation with me. All students are expected to have read the assigned article and to participate actively in discussion.

Course Materials

There are no assigned texts. Reading materials will be drawn from the peer-reviewed literature and posted on the journal club website at least one week in advance.

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS & GRADING

Final grades are based on attendance, presentations, and written critical summaries of assigned journal articles.

Grade Components

1. Participation

Attendance and participation are mandatory and will be recorded each week. You are allowed up to two unexcused absences without penalty. Each additional unexcused absence will deduct 5% from your final course grade. Excused absences will be dropped and will not affect your grade. An absence is considered excused if there is an acceptable reason according to UF policy (http://tinyurl.com/6k3y9w4). Active participation requires that you read the assigned article, take notes, and prepare thoughtful questions and critical discussion points.

2. Leading discussion

Each student is required to select, present, and lead the discussion of at least one article per semester. Presentations should last no more than 15 minutes to allow ample time for discussion. Focus on identifying the central research questions or hypotheses; summarize the research methods and design; and evaluate the authors’ interpretation and argument. In the discussion, draw out strengths, not just weaknesses, of the paper and try to highlight its contribution to the literature.

3. Critical summaries

You are required to write a short (~500-word) critical summary of five articles per semester. You may select from any of the readings we discuss. Your summary should identify the paper’s central research questions, hypotheses or argument; summarize the theory, methods, and findings; and critically evaluate the authors’ assumptions, interpretation, and argument. Highlight both strengths and weaknesses, and pose questions for further research or discussion. Critical summaries must be submitted by email before discussion of the article.

Assignment	Frequency	Percent
Participation Leading discussion Critical summaries	Weekly Once per semester Five per semester	50% 30% 20%

 Final grades are evaluated on the following scale: A = 93 or above; A- = 90-92; B+ = 87-89; B = 83-86; B- = 80-82; C+ = 77-79; C = 73-76; C- = 70-72; D+ = 67-69; D = 63-66; D- = 60-62; E = 59 or below

 

KEY JOURNALS

Articles for journal club should be published within the last 2-3 years in a peer-reviewed journal in medical anthropology or allied disciplines. The following list includes core journals in the field. This list is not exhaustive. Relevant articles from other fields are welcome.

American Anthropologist

American Ethnologist

American Journal of Human Biology

American Journal of Public Health

Anthropology & Medicine

Cultural Anthropology

Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry

Culture, Health & Sexuality

Current Anthropology

Ecology of Food & Nutrition

Ethnicity & Disease

Ethnicity & Health

Ethos

Health and Place

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Human Organization

Medical Anthropology

Medical Anthropology Quarterly

Qualitative Health Research

Social Science & Medicine

Transcultural Psychiatry

 

COURSE POLICIES & INFORMATION

You are responsible for knowing and abiding by all course policies and procedures.

Academic Honor Code

All work should be individual unless it is specifically connected to assigned collaborative work. Evidence of collusion (working with someone not connected to the class or assignment), plagiarism (use of someone else’s published or unpublished words or design without acknowledgment) or multiple submissions (submitting the same paper in different courses) will lead to the Department’s and the University’s procedures for dealing with academic dishonesty. I expect all students to honor their commitment to the UF Honor Code (available online at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/sccr/honorcodes/honorcode.php).

Accommodation for Students with Disabilities

Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The DSO will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation. Please make any requests by the second week of class. Please contact the Disability Resources Center (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/) for more information about resources available to students with disabilities.

UF Counseling Services

Students facing difficulties completing the course or who are in need of counseling or urgent help should call the on-campus Counseling and Wellness Center (352-392-1575;

http://www.counseling.ufl.edu/cwc/).

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Atzema, C. (2004). Presenting at journal club: A guide. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 44(2), 169–174.
• Deenadayalan, Y., Grimmer-Somers, K., Prior, M., & Kumar, S. (2008). How to run an effective journal club: a systematic review. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 14(5), 898–911.
• Ebbert, J. O., Montori, V. M., & Schultz, H. J. (2001). The journal club in postgraduate medical education: a systematic review. Medical Teacher, 23(5), 455–461.
• Greenhalgh, T. (1997a). How to read a paper. Getting your bearings (deciding what the paper is about). BMJ, 315(7102), 243–246.
• Greenhalgh, T. (1997b). How to read a paper. Statistics for the non-statistician. I: Different types of data need different statistical tests. BMJ, 315(7104), 364–366.
• Greenhalgh, T. (1997c). How to read a paper. Statistics for the non-statistician. II: “Significant” relations and their pitfalls. BMJ, 315(7105), 422–425
• Greenhalgh, T., & Taylor, R. (1997). Papers that go beyond numbers (qualitative research). BMJ, 315(7110), 740–743.
• Lee, A. G., Boldt, H. C., Golnik, K. C., Arnold, A. C., Oetting, T. A., Beaver, H. A., Olson, R. J., et al. (2005). Using the journal club to teach and assess competence in practice-based learning and improvement: a literature review and recommendation for implementation. Survey of Ophthalmology, 50(6), 542–548.
• Linzer, M. (1987). The journal club and medical education: over one hundred years of unrecorded history. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 63(740), 475.
• Schwartz, M. D., Dowell, D., Aperi, J., & Kalet, A. (2007). Improving journal club presentations, or, I can present that paper in under 10 minutes. Evidence-Based Medicine, 147(1), A8–9.
• Stange, K. C. (2006). Annals Journal Club: It's Time to Get RADICAL. The Annals of Family Medicine, 4(3), 196–197.