The role of librarians in teaching evidence-based medicine to pediatric residents: a survey of pediatric residency program directors

Integrating Medical Librarians in Evidence-Based Medical Practice in Africa: A Survey of Current Practices and Challenges

Librarians' involvement in Evidence-Based Medical Practice (EBMP) has been widely reported from the Global North. The cross-sectional study designed a survey to investigate how African medical librarians integrate into EBMP. The respondents comprised medical librarians from 12 African countries. Findings revealed that African medical librarians are mostly involved in EBMP activities related to resource use, management, and evidence dissemination. The leading EBMP tools reportedly used or promoted by the librarians include UpToDate and Cochrane Library, while the leading challenges encountered in offering support for EBMP are related to skill deficiency, poor funding, and poor internet connectivity.

Information literacy of matriculating chiropractic students assessed via research readiness survey

OBJECTIVE

We developed a Research Readiness Survey (RRS) to identify students' information literacy needs prior to instruction by a team of faculty members and librarians in our doctor of chiropractic program clinical research literacy courses. In addition to describing students' responses to our RRS, we explored associations between (1) students' overall performance on the RRS and their prior earned degrees and (2) their self-reported ability and performance on questions pertaining to evaluating information quality (standard 3 of the Association of College and Research Libraries [ACRL] Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education).

METHODS

The RRS is composed of 50 questions, of which 22 pertain to information literacy knowledge assessment per ACRL standards. We calculated means and standard deviations for summary scores on 4 ACRL standards and for a total RRS score. We used analysis of variance to assess whether standard 3 scores differed by students' self-reported ability to judge health information quality and whether there was an association between total RRS scores and students' previously earned degrees.

RESULTS

In 2017-2018, 245 students (70% of matriculates) completed the RRS. Students performed best on standard 3 (average score 67%) and worst on standard 2, the ability to access information (average score = 59%). Students who reported an average ability to judge information quality had higher standard 3 scores than students who reported poor ability (p = .003). Students with bachelor's degrees had higher total RRS scores than students with associate's degrees (p = .004).

CONCLUSION

Matriculating students had the most difficulty with accessing information, supporting the need to include librarians on the teaching team.

Teaching evidence-based medicine with electronic databases for preclinical education

To evaluate the efficacy of an educational module on evidence-based medicine (EBM) assisted with electronic medical databases (EMDs) for preclinical education, medical students (n = 111) were matriculated in a program consisted of 16 2-h sessions on EBM plus hands-on experience on EMDs in a problem-based learning-type format. Students were required to make an oral presentation on designated clinical scenarios before and after the sessions, without prior notice, as an indicator of performance. In addition, questionnaires focusing on behavioral changes, awareness, and confidence of mastering EBM were administered before and after the sessions to assess the attitudinal and behavioral impact of the intervention on the participants. We found evidence of better postprogram performance in utilizing EBM-relevant concepts and resources when the enrolled medical students were giving oral presentations. Moreover, the participants reported increased awareness of EBM and, behaviorally, increased utilization of EBM-relevant resources provided by libraries. Also, they reported improvement on appropriately using EBM-relevant resources, and 99% of the participants reported strong confidence in practicing EBM. In conclusion, modules on EBM implemented with EMDs benefitted medical students in scenario-oriented PBL tutorials. Improvements in awareness, behavior, confidence, and performance in mastering EBM were noted.

Clinical informationist educational needs and goals: A scoping review

Clinical informationist (CI) is one of the current trends in the field of medical librarianship and information science. CIs are members of clinical care teams, and their main duty is to fill the gap in the information needs of health-care workers and patients using information sources. They need an official and standard education. This study aims to identify the educational goals and needs of CIs. To this end, a scoping review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines. The ISI Web of Science, Scopus, Proquest (MEDLINE), Science Direct, Emerald, ERIC, Cochrane, and Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts were searched. The Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries was hand searched for relevant studies. A total of 1026 studies were extracted, and 38 studies were selected for the final review. The review resulted in identifying 18 goals in cognitive, emotional, and psychomotor areas. Furthermore, the educational needs were identified in eight educational needs including research method and statistics, education, medical knowledge, information and librarianship science, clinical environment knowledge, evidence-based knowledge, information technologies and systems, management, and leadership. Although part of these educational needs can be met through general medical librarianship and information science education, further specialized education for CIs requires specific aims and curriculum. Thus, the results of this study can be the basis for future studies regarding the competencies of CI in order to provide a more precise and detailed curriculum based on these educational needs.

Educating Pediatric Residents About Parenting: A Survey of Residency Program Leaders

The American Academic of Pediatrics guides pediatricians to counsel parents about how to promote their children's cognitive, emotional, and self-regulatory development, but the extent to which pediatricians receive the training needed to do so is unknown. An online survey was distributed to members of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors. Although most respondents agreed that it was "very important" to educate residents about parenting skills, only 11% rated their program as doing so "very well." The most frequently reported reason for not doing very well was lack of a curriculum. Residents currently learn about parenting most commonly in continuity clinic talks, are educated via lectures, and are taught most frequently by clinic preceptors. Nearly half of the respondents reported that their residents relied on self-learning about parenting behaviors. When asked which topics respondents would like covered by an evidence-based parenting curriculum, the most commonly endorsed topic was positive discipline.

Leveraging the Librarian in a Nurse Residency Program

Hospitals are increasingly implementing Nurse Residency Programs (NRPs), but medical librarians are often left out of their institution's respective programs. Librarians possess a unique, knowledge-based skill set that is a natural fit for the content and goals of a NRP and should be more frequently considered and used by such programs. This article identifies and explores several roles for librarians in NRPs and discusses the impact and results of including librarians.