Stimulating debate and improving understanding via #AAAJC

Dan Thomas is an ST7 working in Liverpool. He is the BGS Clinical Quality Group Trainee Rep and the Deputy Media Editor. He tweets @dan26wales

Journal clubs are a traditional part of medical training and education. Conventionally they are a forum where research papers can be critiqued and discussed, but attendance can be patchy and people can often be too nervous to contribute. Age and Ageing has launched a bimonthly twitter based journal club which anyone can join. We aim to discuss articles that will directly impact on day to day clinical practice using the hashtag #AAAJC.

Using twitter allows the journal club to be informal and abolishes hierarchy. It also means that non-physician colleagues can join and contribute to the chat (whereas traditional journal clubs have tended to be run for and accessed by doctors). Authors will be invited to discuss their work, and it may even empower patients to participate.

The #AAAJC aims to stimulate debate and improve understanding of important current topics relevant to medicine for older people. Unlike traditional journal clubs the aim is not to get too bogged down in the details of e.g. the statistical tests used, as this can often put people off contributing.

Both Age and Ageing and the British Geriatrics Society have over 10,000 followers on twitter and there is an active community of tweeters from the world of medicine for older people. #AAAJC will allow us to get together for a couple of hours every two months to discuss important papers, continue our professional development and take away ideas that will improve the care our patients get.

The next #AAAJC will take place on Wednesday the 24.7.19 between the times of 20:00 – 21:00. The paper we will be discussing is Understanding and improving multidisciplinary team working in geriatric medicine.