Getting into the Game: Inaugurating a Clinical Librarian Program

Abstract

Objectives: Librarians worked closely with the internal medicine residency program to provide training and support; however, many residents seemed unaware of the library's collections and services. To strengthen the relationship between the library and the program and to enhance residents' use of information resources, a librarian was assigned to attend the residents' daily morning meeting at least twice each week. Methods: With the support of the residency program director, a librarian began attending the residents' morning meeting at least twice each week. The librarian would listen carefully to the case-oriented discussion and instruction to identify questions that were not fully addressed and then try to locate the "answers" in real-time. While some questions could be addressed fully within a meeting, other questions required more in-depth research. The librarian developed a system of emailing questions and answers in the form of linked resources, and this method quickly evolved into the use of a LibGuide to provide program-wide access to the questions and answers or resources. The librarian also sought to create a positive relationship with the chief residents who oversee morning meeting and collaborated with them to provide information support for additional components of the curriculum including noon conference and morning report. Conclusions: With the clinical librarian program in place, the librarian continues to assess and refine methods for connecting residents to information and information resources.