Each student will be responsible for giving a 30min presentation on a Current Events topic.
We all know that the media is flooded with info on “scientific studies” and it’s part of our job as healthcare providers to be able to interpret the information published for the masses in a way that’s both accurate and simple to understand. The expectations for this presentation include the following:
Please watch this video clip from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver – I apologize in advance for the foul language/lewd comments that are part of his comedic style, but this is an excellent analysis of how the media can often misrepresent sound medical literature and lead to confusion, even with there isn’t any in the scientific community.
Find a recently published news article that discusses medication or a med-related issue (see below for some examples) – this can either be in print media or a video clip.
Seek out the source article that is mentioned in the news & read that article as well
Prepare a 20-30min presentation highlighting the news article vs. the source literature. Make sure to include the following:
Background on the drug(s) & disease state discussed including dosing/ADME/ADEs/contraindications/MOA/etc. of the drug & on prevalence/issues/scope of the disease state
An assessment of what was said in the news article & how reputable it is as a source. Things to consider and include: who wrote the article & what’s their background? Where was it published? Was there any bias you noted in the reporting?
A journal-club type review of the background literature. See below for a JC appraisal form that you may find helpful in breaking down the literature, but you don’t have to use that if you don’t need/want to
Your final thoughts on what the literature says and what you would tell your patient about the issue. Do you agree with the article, or what would you want to tell your patients about how the actual study differed from the news?
You can use whatever format you’d like for your presentation – PowerPoint, Prezi, handout, etc. Please make sure to send our entire group (myself & each of your student colleagues) both your news article link and source literature by no later than 11:59pm on the Sunday before your scheduled presentation, so that everyone can have time to read the info and participate in the discussion on your chosen topic (and so that nobody’s presentation is on the same thing!).