Language DisordersCOG-JOCSNCT01844609
China Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal Club
A study testing Self Study Journal Club and Intensive Journal Club in people with Language Disorders, run by Milton S. Hershey Medical Center at 2 sites in 2 countries.
Trial 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. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Language Disorders
- What is being tested?
- Self Study Journal Club and Intensive Journal Club
- Type of treatment
- Pill or oral medicine, Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 50 participants
- Where
- 2 sitesin 2 countries
- Study dates
- May 2013to Jul 2013
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Chinese medical professional
Who cannot join
- English speaking fluency
- Non-Chinese speaking medical professional
Trial locations and contacts
2 sites in 2 countries.
2 sites in 2 countries
United States1 site
Penn State Hershey Medical Center
Hershey, Pennsylvania, 17033-0850
China1 site
First Affiliated Hospital Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine
Harbin
About this study
Official title: An English Language Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal Club to Improve Medical English in China: A Randomized Controlled Trial
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.
Read the 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.
- Conditions
- Language Disorders
- Being tested
- Self Study Journal Club, Intensive Journal Club
- Keywords
- Comprehension, Verbal Learning, Writing, Testing
- Medical subject headings
- Language Disorders
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Self Study Journal ClubBehavioural
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.
Intensive Journal ClubBehavioural
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.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Self Study Journal Club | Experimental | 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. Receives: Behavioral: Self Study Journal Club |
| Intensive Journal Club | Experimental | 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. Receives: Behavioral: Intensive Journal Club |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
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.
Measured: Baseline to 8 weeks
Secondary outcomes (1)
Change in score from baseline on a written (short answer) exam and on an oral exam.
Measured: Baseline to 8 weeks
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted1 May 2013 (estimated)
- Study startMay 2013
- Primary completionJul 2013
- Study completionJul 2013
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Language DisordersStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Milton S. Hershey Medical CenterThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 50 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang Chinese Medicine University
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Richard S. Legro, M.D., Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
- Investigators
- Richard S Legro, M.D., Principal investigator, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT01844609
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 42338
- Acronym
- COG-JOCS
- Status last verified
- Oct 2013
- First submitted
- 29 Apr 2013
- Last updated
- 25 Oct 2013
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
Publications
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.
PubMed 26823180
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 25 Oct 2013. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- An English Language Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal Club to Improve Medical English in China: A Randomized Controlled Trial
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT01844609
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- COG-JOCS / 42338
- Conditions
- Language Disorders
- Keywords
- Comprehension, Verbal Learning, Writing, Testing
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 50 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Milton S. Hershey Medical CenterUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang Chinese Medicine University
- Study start
- May 2013
- Primary completion
- Jul 2013 (actual)
- Study completion
- Jul 2013 (actual)
- First posted
- 1 May 2013 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
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.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Health services research
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Self Study Journal Club | Experimental | Behavioral: Self Study Journal Club25 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. |
| Intensive Journal Club | Experimental | Behavioral: Intensive Journal Club25 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. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Chinese medical professional
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- English speaking fluency
- Non-Chinese speaking medical professional
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Self Study Journal ClubThis 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. | Behavioural | Self Study Journal Club |
| Intensive Journal ClubThis 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. | Behavioural | Intensive Journal Club |
Primary outcome
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
1 secondary outcome
Change in score from baseline on a written (short answer) exam and on an oral exam.
Time frame: Baseline to 8 weeks
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 25 Oct 2013.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 26823180Tsui 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.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Richard S Legro, M.D. principal investigator
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
2 sites in 2 countries: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Self Study Journal Club and Intensive Journal Club in people with Language Disorders, run by Milton S. Hershey Medical Center at 2 sites in 2 countries.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 1 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 25 Oct 2013. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 2 sites in United States, China. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
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). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT01844609, which also lists 1 linked publication.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 25 Oct 2013; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 7 Nov 2026.