Establishing a New Clinical Informationist Role in an Academic Health Sciences Center

Abstract

The concept of clinical informationists is not new, but has recently been gaining more widespread acceptance across the United States. This article describes the lessons and challenges learned from starting a new clinical informationist service targeted to internal medicine residents in a large academic medical center. Lessons included the need for becoming immersed in evidence-based practice fundamentals; becoming comfortable with the pace, realities, and topics encountered during clinical rounds; and needing organizational commitment to both the evidence-based practice paradigm and clinical informationist role. Challenges included adapting to organizational culture, resident burnout, and perceptions of information overload.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic health sciences libraries
• clinical informationists
• librarians
• medical education
• residents
• roles
• rounds

Acknowledgments

This article is based on the paper, “Starting From Scratch: Establishing a Role for an Informationist on Rounds,” presented at the annual meeting of the Medical Library Association, Boston, MA, May 6, 2013.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Alison M. Aldrich

Alison M. Aldrich, MSI, MPH ([email protected]) is Clinical Informationist; and Stephanie J. Schulte, MLIS ([email protected]) is Assistant Professor, Education and Reference Services Coordinator; both at Health Sciences Library, The Ohio State University, 376 W. 10th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210.