Psych CASC / OSCE · Professional practice — critical appraisal and EBM
Journal club critical appraisal — CASC/communication-adjacent teaching station
MRCPsych/FRANZCP-style teaching/communication station: PICO, validity, results with ARR/NNT, applicability, and clear team communication without statistical intimidation.
On this page
Study tools
Target exams
FRANZCPMRCPsychABPNMD-DNB
Prompt
You are the psychiatry registrar leading a 10-minute journal club with a foundation doctor and a nurse. You must structure an appraisal of a short antidepressant trial abstract, explain NNT in plain language, and avoid both uncritical acceptance and nihilism.
Station brief
Format. Teaching/communication station, approximately 8–10 minutes. You facilitate appraisal, not monologue. [1]
Candidate instructions. Lead the team through PICO, validity, results, and applicability for the abstract provided in the station materials (or a stem the examiner reads). Explain NNT in non-technical language. Correct misconceptions calmly. Close with a practice-relevant bottom line. [2][3]
References5ShowHide
- [1]Sackett DL, Rosenberg WM, Gray JA, Haynes RB, Richardson WS Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't BMJ, 1996.PMID 8555924
- [2]Richardson WS, Wilson MC, Nishikawa J, Hayward RS The well-built clinical question: a key to evidence-based decisions ACP J Club, 1995.PMID 7582737
- [3]Laupacis A, Sackett DL, Roberts RS An assessment of clinically useful measures of the consequences of treatment N Engl J Med, 1988.PMID 3374545
- [4]Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D; CONSORT Group CONSORT 2010 statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials BMJ, 2010.PMID 20332509
- [5]Sterne JAC, Savović J, Page MJ, et al. RoB 2: a revised tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials BMJ, 2019.PMID 31462531