Journal of the Medical Library Association最新文献

Objectives: This study examines the experiences of librarians who support physician assistant/associate (PA) programs, describing the unique challenges of these programs and outlining strategies that librarians adopt to engage these programs.

Method: This mixed-methods study includes two phases: (1) a quantitative survey developed and distributed to library personnel in institutions with established or developing PA programs in the US and Canada, and (2) semi-structured interviews with fifteen selected survey respondents, focusing on their experiences and perceptions related to PA education support. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results: Seventy-five survey responses were collected. Key findings from the survey include: most respondents were from universities with health sciences programs, with nursing and physical therapy being the most common additional programs. Most library-led instruction occurred during the didactic phase and focused on search skills and evidence-based practice. PubMed and UpToDate were the most library-promoted resources. Two thematic elements discovered through the semi-structured interviews were "relationship building as paramount" and "impact of the learning curve on librarian workload."

Conclusion: Librarians who support PA educational programs face challenges related to relationship building, financial resources, workload, and steep learning curves. The findings underscore the need for targeted professional development programs to equip librarians with the necessary knowledge and skills.

bims: Biomed News. February 5, 2017-Present. https://biomed.news/, Created by Thomas Krichel and directed by Gavin P. McStay. Free. Accessible via any web browser.

Background: Non-healthcare undergraduate students frequently seek drug-related information online, often relying on unverified sources such as Google or YouTube. Early exposure to professional drug information databases may promote evidence-based information-seeking habits.

Case presentation: A one-hour training session on using Lexicomp, a professional drug information database, was conducted for 55 non-healthcare students and 58 pharmacy students at a women's university in South Korea. The session included live demonstrations and guided search tasks. Participants completed pre- and post-training surveys assessing their information-seeking behaviors, perceptions of source reliability, and intention to use Lexicomp. Students also ranked drug information types they typically searched for and anticipated using Lexicomp to find. Only 1.8% of non-healthcare students had prior knowledge of Lexicomp, compared to 100% of pharmacy students. After the training, 100% of non-healthcare students rated Lexicomp as more reliable than their usual sources, and over 90% expressed willingness to use it in the future. A marked shift in information-seeking priorities was observed, with greater emphasis on clinically relevant topics such as adverse effects and contraindications. Students reported increased confidence and found the platform easier to use than expected.

Conclusion: A brief educational intervention was effective in improving drug information literacy among non-healthcare students. Early training in professional resources may foster long-term adoption of evidence-based practices in personal health information use.

Background: Numerous studies have emphasized the crucial role of library resources in improving educational outcomes. However, there is a significant gap in research on how vocational medical students, a key group in the healthcare workforce, utilize these resources. This gap in the research highlights the need to further investigate the unique challenges and factors influencing library resource utilization in vocational medical students.

Case presentation: One hundred and seventeen vocational medical students from a medical vocational college were assessed what influenced their library resource usage. An online survey was conducted to collect data on usage patterns, satisfaction with library resources, and satisfaction with self-reported retrieval abilities. The sample included 48 males and 69 females, with an average age of 19.1±0.7 years. Of the participants, 38.5% (45 students) reported effective library resource utilization. Lasso regression and logistic regression analyses identified two key predictors: satisfaction with library's space capacity (OR 4.26, 95% CI 1.438~12.622) and satisfaction with resource retrieval ability (OR 7.362, 95% CI 1.311~41.341). ROC analysis revealed a high predictive value, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.866 (95% CI 0.796~0.936).

Conclusions: This study identified satisfaction with library's space capacity and satisfaction with resource retrieval ability as key factors influencing library resource utilization by vocational medical students. To enhance library resource utilization, targeted strategies such as strengthening library infrastructure and improving students' information literacy should be considered.

Background: Health sciences librarians frequently engage in discussions about the appropriate assignment of evidence synthesis reviews (ES) for graduate students as course, thesis, or capstone projects. Such reviews are often assigned to build the research skills needed in a clinical environment. In the assignment of these reviews, it has become apparent that health sciences faculty are often not familiar with required standardized methodologies. Incorrect methodologies can contribute to research waste and produce evidence that cannot be applied for its intended purpose.

Case presentation: Health sciences librarians at an R1 institution ventured to address the ES review knowledge gap through a continuing education webinar for health sciences faculty and graduate students. The webinar provided guidance on systematic review (SR) methodology, optional alternative research assignments, and discussions encouraging the use of these assignments. The alternative assignments were developed based on those presented by Lipke & Price (2025), each with specific learning objectives and grading rubrics. Pre- and post-webinar surveys were conducted to gauge any changes in participants' knowledge, skills, or abilities related to the presented information.

Conclusions: Study participants included six faculty and a graduate student. Survey results showed that participants had an improved understanding of, and placed increased importance on, ES method guidelines, with an equal understanding of the need for alternative assignments. The authors of this study will further evaluate the impact of this webinar and assess its effectiveness in changing health sciences research assignments.

Background: Knowledge syntheses require complex searches of the literature, but many have poor quality, irreproducible search methods. Academic libraries support researchers conducting knowledge syntheses in many ways, including providing training such as workshops. However, for training to be successful, effective teaching theories and methods need to be used, such as andragogy and instructional design. These can help to develop learning strategies and experiences based on the needs of the learners.

Case presentation: At Federation University Australia Library, in response to increasing requests for support from researchers conducting knowledge syntheses, a series of workshops on systematic searching was developed using adult learning methods. We aimed to deliver quality, engaging learning experiences to researchers, and using instructional design was likely to help us meet this goal. Learning outcomes were identified, followed by developing active, collaborative learning strategies and activities. After implementation, the workshops were evaluated informally, resulting in planned changes and improvements to future offerings.

Conclusions: Using andragogy and instructional design was a successful method of developing the workshops as it provided a structure to follow, and centered researcher needs. While positive feedback was received from workshop participants, there is a need to formally evaluate the learning outcomes to determine if the workshops resulted in improvements in systematic searching practices. The approach to developing the workshops can be adapted by other libraries delivering similar training on systematic searching. It is our aim that by promoting the use of effective teaching methods, the quality of search methods in knowledge syntheses will improve.

Background: Use of evidence-based medicine (EBM) can improve patient outcomes, but translating classroom learning of EBM to clinical practice is challenging. Training students to utilize and apply principles of EBM is critical but data and methods for evaluating students' EBM skills are lacking.

Case presentation: The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine has early curricular introduction of information mastery techniques to combat these challenges. Students create research presentations related to the weekly problem-based-learning (PBL) case to practice applying EBM skills. Medical librarians developed and utilized an assessment tool to evaluate students' weekly presentations. Librarian staff reviewed 595 presentations during the first year of the pre-clerkship curriculum using five criteria: (1) appropriate scope of presentation (2) correct categorization of the question based on the finding information framework (3) appropriate resource used (4) search strategy and (5) bibliographic citations according to American Medical Association (AMA) guidelines.

Conclusions: Of the evaluated presentations using these criteria, the majority of students routinely and reliably applied EBM skills in their case-based presentations. Further studies will need to look at continued development of these skills throughout other phases of training.

Background: Community-dwelling patients with complex care needs (hereafter "patients") seek information to choose optimal care. However, patients with low ehealth literacy often have difficulty finding trustworthy, easy-to-understand information. Improving their ehealth literacy can lead to multiple positive health outcomes. This study aimed to describe patients' perceptions of the usability and potential impacts of a web-based, ehealth literacy-oriented intervention.

Case description: To support patients in finding, appraising, and using online health information (the three core principles of ehealth literacy) we developed the Online Health Information Aid (OHIA), which includes a website, an educational video, and a game. An evaluation was conducted with five patients who received the intervention. Pre-intervention (Day 1) and post-intervention (Day 30) data were collected. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Quantitative and qualitative results were compared in a joint display. Participants included three women and two men aged 46 to 71 years (mean age: 62) with two to 11 chronic health conditions (mean: 5) and two to 20 medications (mean: 10). Participants found the website usable (e.g., "good tool"). For the video, usability scores were high (67%-96%; mean: 79%) with positive comments (e.g., "good and helpful"). However, the game's usability was lower (40%-78%; mean: 60%), and comments were negative (e.g., "complex and not readable"). For three participants, ehealth literacy levels (n=2) and/or knowledge for appraising online health information (n=2) increased post-intervention. However, they did not perceive any impact of the intervention.

Conclusion: These results suggest that the OHIA intervention, specifically the website and the video, is a promising approach to improving ehealth literacy among people with lower education, and a family income below or around the poverty line, including patients with complex care needs.

The medical or health sciences library professional vocabulary uses many words that start with an I. On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Janet Doe Lectureship, this lecture highlights and summarizes the 15 lectures (27%) that have included an I in their titles. The most frequent I word was information; this word appeared in four lectures. Only one lecture used more than one I word in the title. A new I word incorporated in this lecture but not its title is Intelligence, Artificial. +Italics were used to emphasize I words within the lecture or titles of published works.

OpenEvidence. AI based Medical Information platform. Released 2023. OpenEvidence Inc. Cambridge. Massachusetts. https://www.openevidence.com/; Founder& CEO: DR. Daniel Nadler. Free of cost for Healthcare Professionals. Registration is required to use Open Evidence.