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China Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal Club (COG-JOCS)

Primary Purpose

Language Disorders

Status
Completed
Phase
Not Applicable
Locations
International
Study Type
Interventional
Intervention
Self Study Journal Club
Intensive Journal Club
Sponsored by
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
About
Eligibility
Locations
Arms
Outcomes
Full info

About this trial

This is an interventional health services research trial for Language Disorders focused on measuring Comprehension, Verbal Learning, Writing, Testing

Eligibility Criteria

18 Years - undefined (Adult, Older Adult)All SexesAccepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Chinese medical professional

Exclusion Criteria:

  • English speaking fluency
  • Non-Chinese speaking medical professional

Sites / Locations

  • Penn State Hershey Medical Center
  • First Affiliated Hospital Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine

Arms of the Study

Arm 1

Arm 2

Arm Type

Experimental

Experimental

Arm Label

Self Study Journal Club

Intensive Journal Club

Arm Description

25 Chinese Medical Professionals that will be participating in Self Study Journal Club Meetings three times a week for one hour for 8 weeks with interactive questions and answers and discussion of the journal articles.

25 Chinese Medical Professionals that will be participating Face to Face Journal Club Meetings three times a week for one hour for 8 weeks along with a native English speaking mentor.

Outcomes

Primary Outcome Measures

Change in score from baseline on a 30 question multiple choice exam (questions and answers will be read to the participants) based on APGO-CREOGH shelf exams.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Change in score from baseline on a written (short answer) exam and on an oral exam.

Full Information

First Posted
April 29, 2013
Last Updated
October 24, 2013
Sponsor
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Collaborators
First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang Chinese Medicine University
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1. Study Identification

Unique Protocol Identification Number
NCT01844609
Brief Title
China Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal Club
Acronym
COG-JOCS
Official Title
An English Language Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal Club to Improve Medical English in China: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study Type
Interventional

2. Study Status

Record Verification Date
October 2013
Overall Recruitment Status
Completed
Study Start Date
May 2013 (undefined)
Primary Completion Date
July 2013 (Actual)
Study Completion Date
July 2013 (Actual)

3. Sponsor/Collaborators

Responsible Party, by Official Title
Principal Investigator
Name of the Sponsor
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Collaborators
First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang Chinese Medicine University

4. Oversight

Data Monitoring Committee
No

5. Study Description

Brief Summary
The purpose of this study is to determine if an intensive journal club based on articles and materials provided on the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology Website improves written and spoken comprehension of medical English in a population of Chinese medical professionals.
Detailed Description
This will be a randomized educational trial of an intensive journal club compared to a self study journal club (1:1 randomization). Randomization will take place after baseline. The population will consist of 50 medical professionals at Heilongjiang University in Harbin China, who agree to participate in an 8 week educational intervention. This study will assess the impact of applying English for Specific Purposes(ESP) pedagogy to foreign medical education and specifically evaluate learning in the field of obstetrics and gynecology(Ob-Gyn). ESP is a subdivision of a wider field, Language for Specific Purposes(LSP), defined as the area of inquiry and practice in the development of language programs for people who need a language to meet a predictable range of communicative needs. ESP emphasizes teaching language in context and designs a curriculum around the results of a needs assessment, to more accurately determine which language skills are of priority: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Part of the theory behind ESP suggests that being able to use the vocabulary and structures that students learn in a meaningful context reinforces what is taught and increases motivation. Further, findings from a study by Okamura (2006) that examined how learners succeed in mastering scientific discourse in English showed that they focused on reading academic texts in their field to learn typical writing patterns. This is as opposed to junior learners who focused on mastering the English language by reading English texts written by authors from a breadth of fields. This application of ESP thus reflects how content-specific source articles could serve as rhetorical models and suggests that source articles are able to mediate scholarly writing and learning within the zone of proximal developmental; that is, learners are simultaneously gaining new content knowledge while increasing their skill base. The proposed intervention is to design an ESP curriculum for medical professionals, specifically Ob-Gyn physicians and researchers at a Chinese Medical University, based on the journal club format and source articles. The study will quantitatively assess the impact of this model on student's ESP language comprehension as well as determine the necessity of the traditional "facilitator" role for a journal club whose purpose is to foster language literacy in non-English speaking universities.

6. Conditions and Keywords

Primary Disease or Condition Being Studied in the Trial, or the Focus of the Study
Language Disorders
Keywords
Comprehension, Verbal Learning, Writing, Testing

7. Study Design

Primary Purpose
Health Services Research
Study Phase
Not Applicable
Interventional Study Model
Parallel Assignment
Masking
None (Open Label)
Allocation
Randomized
Enrollment
50 (Actual)

8. Arms, Groups, and Interventions

Arm Title
Self Study Journal Club
Arm Type
Experimental
Arm Description
25 Chinese Medical Professionals that will be participating in Self Study Journal Club Meetings three times a week for one hour for 8 weeks with interactive questions and answers and discussion of the journal articles.
Arm Title
Intensive Journal Club
Arm Type
Experimental
Arm Description
25 Chinese Medical Professionals that will be participating Face to Face Journal Club Meetings three times a week for one hour for 8 weeks along with a native English speaking mentor.
Intervention Type
Behavioral
Intervention Name(s)
Self Study Journal Club
Intervention Description
This Self Study Journal Club will read articles and prepare written answers to the study questions on their own time. The participants will read 24 articles; 12 gynecology and 12 obstetrics, based on monthly journal clubs available online at the Obstetrics and Gynecology website. The first and last article will serve as a basis for the oral and written exam in which they will be tested on comprehension, verbal and written Medical English.
Intervention Type
Behavioral
Intervention Name(s)
Intensive Journal Club
Intervention Description
This Intensive Journal Club will read articles and prepare written answers to the study questions along with a fluent English speaker. The participants will read 24 articles; 12 gynecology and 12 obstetrics, based on monthly journal clubs available online at the Obstetrics and Gynecology website. Participants will prepare oral presentations of the studies and answers to the study questions. They will have interactive sessions with this fluent English speaking monitor 3 times a week, one hour sessions for 8 weeks. The first and last article will serve as a basis for the oral and written exam in which they will be tested on comprehension, verbal and written Medical English.
Primary Outcome Measure Information:
Title
Change in score from baseline on a 30 question multiple choice exam (questions and answers will be read to the participants) based on APGO-CREOGH shelf exams.
Time Frame
Baseline to 8 weeks
Secondary Outcome Measure Information:
Title
Change in score from baseline on a written (short answer) exam and on an oral exam.
Time Frame
Baseline to 8 weeks

10. Eligibility

Sex
All
Minimum Age & Unit of Time
18 Years
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: Chinese medical professional Exclusion Criteria: English speaking fluency Non-Chinese speaking medical professional
Overall Study Officials:
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name & Degree
Richard S Legro, M.D.
Organizational Affiliation
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
Official's Role
Principal Investigator
Facility Information:
Facility Name
Penn State Hershey Medical Center
City
Hershey
State/Province
Pennsylvania
ZIP/Postal Code
17033-0850
Country
United States
Facility Name
First Affiliated Hospital Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine
City
Harbin
Country
China

12. IPD Sharing Statement

Citations:
PubMed Identifier
26823180
Citation
Tsui IK, Dodson WC, Kunselman AR, Kuang H, Han FJ, Legro RS, Wu XK. Chinese Obstetrics & Gynecology journal club: a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2016 Jan 28;6(1):e010178. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-010178.
Results Reference
derived

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China Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal Club

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