Library and information science education for the new medical environment and the age of integrated information

Library Trends, Fall, 1993 by Ellen Gay Detlefsen

A single health sciences bibliography course or a medical library management class will not be enough.(21) In addition to developing LIS course work with emphases that match the research and clinical needs of medical center personnel, LIS students must be encouraged to take courses in health professions schools, not only for the content but also for collegial networking with those who will become their clients. Rigorous internships, cooperative field placements, and postmaster's residency or associate programs(22) must be devised and expanded so that LIS students can participate in real-world settings where health sciences information is used daily in innovative ways.

LIS faculties should look to expanding their continuing education offerings and specifically to sponsoring continuing education work that can attract both current students and health information practitioners who want to become more familiar with topics and techniques that have emerged in the field since their completion of MS studies.(23) Ways in which LIS programs and academic health science center libraries can offer sabbatical opportunities for practitioners and LIS educators to refresh and learn new skills must be developed.(24)

LIS researchers--whether faculty or doctoral students--should be encouraged to pursue investigations of issues in health sciences information and to seek outside support from agencies such as the National Library of Medicine and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research which are already funding work in medical schools and health professions programs. Research on information-seeking behavior, on the structure and use of information resources, on the delivery of health sciences information, on the impact of information on clinical practice, and on the relationship of information to patient care outcomes, should take center stage. LIS researchers must be persuaded and encouraged to participate and present findings at SCAMC and at other international meetings, to publish their work in the medical informatics journals, and to seek funding from agencies such as the NLM and the AHCPR.

Health information professionals and LIS faculties alike must pay particular attention to the development of statements of education policy (such as the MLA's Platform for Change) and the propositions put forth by health professionals about education and training goals (such as those of the AAMC) in order to stay in the forefront of a changing academic marketplace. As societies and professional organizations develop certification mechanisms and subspecialty qualifications, LIS professionals must be ready to insist on their role and full participation in the activities related to health information.

Perhaps of paramount importance, however, is the necessity to develop firm professional linkages to fellow health information professionals in medical centers and to faculties in the health sciences. This interdisciplinary cooperation will be the hallmark of successful change in LIS education for the changing world of the health sciences. Just as interdisciplinarity is the watchword of good clinical care, so interdisciplinary efforts in the education of health information professionals will be necessary. Absent such links, traditional medical librarianship will become increasingly irrelevant to health sciences, an anachronism that may be seen as a luxury in a time of health care cost containment. If, however, health information professionals and those who would educate them can adapt their programs and skills to meet the needs of the changing health care workplace, the role that they can play in information management will be significant.