Involuntary Treatment of Schizophrenia Patients in Denmark

This reflection is on the critical analysis of two journal articles which I had to complete for journal club. The journal articles I had to review were of my own choice but had to relate to the material which was covered in the Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 3 module. There was two journal club sessions, which were held on two separate weeks with the same group. The group I was involved with had four members in total in which each of us had to discuss our article and give a critical analysis of the paper. The two papers I chose were paper 1: ‘Lithium Decreases Plasma Adiponectin Levels in Bipolar Depression’ (Soeiro-de-Souza et al., 2014) and paper 2: ‘Involuntary treatment of schizophrenia patients 2004-2010 in Denmark (Andersen et al., 2013).

When the assignment was first given out I wasn’t looking forward to it. Although I wasn’t looking forward to it I thought it was a great idea as whatever path I choose to go down in pharmacy using reputable, reliable and evidence based material will be essential as well as spotting and disregarding rubbish articles. Also it will be of huge benefit for my fourth year project. I had read articles before but that is all I had done read them. I never questioned any of the methods used or the results given and never thought too much whether if I agreed with what was being said or in essence I didn’t have an opinion. My expectations of the journal club were exceeded. I found I enjoyed reviewing the articles and the group session worked very well. You can pick up a lot of information from other people on how they review journals and the questions they ask in relation to my own. I also learned that I don’t always realise how much of my studies form the past three years has been instilled i...

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...tion for relevant modules which can lead to better marks in coursework and end of semester exams.

The journal club definitely gave me new perspectives on how to approach papers and to critique them. I have a better understanding of what to look for and by incorporating my learning thus far how to decipher what some of the results mean. Also having the chance to practice over two weeks I could see the difference in myself and the other group members.

By taking part in the journal club it gave me definite viewpoint on what to look for in a paper and to come to an opinion of whether I thought the paper was of a high standard. The experiences with the other people in my group played a part in my learning and approach. This will be of great use to me in the future and in particular when undertaking my final year project in which there will be a large literature review.