Foundations of Database Searching: Integrating Evidence-Based Medicine into the Medical Curriculum

Abstract

Library integration into the medical school curriculum is a crucial aspect of meeting Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Accreditation Standards and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Medical School Objectives Project (MSOP) guidelines. To accomplish this, academic health sciences libraries seek to develop evidence-based medicine (EBM) literature searching classes within the medical school curriculum. Establishing a basic understanding of the fundamental concepts behind health sciences database searching among medical students is a prerequisite for a more demanding evidence-based literature searching curriculum. The George T. Harrell Health Sciences Library, Penn State College of Medicine, sought to incorporate an evidence-based medicine literature searching structure by working within the existing problem-based learning system during the preclinical years. Students in the clinical years will participate in evidence-based assignments during their rotations. A fourth-year EBM elective will be created to reinforce and round out students' exposure to these concepts.

Evidence-based practice instruction by faculty members and librarians in North American optometry and ophthalmology programs

“…The respondents in this survey reported similar approaches to educators in other disciplines in terms of teaching settings [16,19,20,24,27] and the use of multiple teaching methods [19,24,27]. Lectures, with or without interactive methods [16,19,20,24,27,[32][33][34], were most commonly used; however, this method has been shown not to change practice behavior in postgraduate education [35].…”

“…Ophthalmology residents may actually receive relatively more EBP training than optometry students, because studies indicate that EBP training normally starts during undergraduate medical school [16,22,23]. Librarian respondents were most likely to report teaching the earlier EBP steps, while faculty members reported teaching across the five steps.…”

“…The survey content was developed based on a literature review [16,17,19,20,[24][25][26][27][28][29], a previous unpublished survey by the first author, the knowledge and experience of the research team members, and consultations with several vision science librarians. The surveys were pilot-tested using a group of local health sciences or medical librarians and optometry faculty members.…”

“…EBP is normally taught by both faculty members and librarians, although their differing expertise likely informs what, who, and how they teach [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Surveying ophthalmology and optometry programs can provide useful insights for vision science librarians and faculty members who are interested in introducing EBP training into or enhancing it in their programs.…”

The Role of Veterinary Medical Librarians in Teaching Information Literacy

“…24,25 Additional models of integrating information literacy instruction into other health profession programs (such as dentistry, nursing, medicine, or pharmacy) could be adapted to veterinary medical education. [26][27][28][29][30] Librarians in this study had limited teaching opportunities during the third and fourth years of the veterinary curriculum. There was some concern that students might not have acquired the information literacy skills that contribute to success in the clinical year and beyond.…”