Medical Librarian/Medical
Informatics Track
-Valerie Sweeney
-Valerie Sweeney
The Medical Librarian/Medical Informatics Specialization track is integrated into the regular 36-credit MLIS degree. This specialty equips a librarian to work in a hospital/medical school library, the consumer health section of a public library, and/or various other research and clinical settings such as corporations, nursing facilities, rehabilitation facilities, and the pharmaceutical and/or health insurance fields.
The required classes are:
*LIS 2585 Health Consumer Resources and Services: Exploration of the various sources of consumer health information and patient education. This class includes discussion of alternative/complementary medicine, cultural implicationsof medical treatment, the popular media's effect on health information, and independent health agencies and their health information dissemination.
* LIS 2586 Health Sciences Information Sources and Services: Information resources for the healthcare professional (doctors, nurses, mental health workers, etc.). Includes tutorials on PubMed, and various other healthcare-related databases/electronic resources.
* LIS 2587 Applications in Medical Informatics: How the use of computers is being integrated into the healthcare, and particularly the healthcare information, field.
The aspiring medical librarian is encouraged to take LIS 2773, Special Library and Information Center Management, although this requirement can be flexible; some of us are taking academic library management instead.
The lead faculty member for the specialization is Dr. Ellen Detlefsen (see Bibliofile's profile of Professor Detlefsen and her home page). Dr. Detlefsen holds a joint appointment in the Center for Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Medical librarianship interest me because, frankly, I decided I was too old and therefore not nearly energetic enough (or willing enough to forgo sleep) to devote years to medical school, residencies, fellowships, etc. With a medical librarian career, I can be involved in the medical field, have an excuse to read all the stuff I want to, and provide a useful service to people in need.
We are looking for people who would like to write about their own tracks. We are especially in need of people within the preservation, law library, and school media specialist tracks. If you would like to brag about your concentration, please email us!
Publication of the Department of Library &
Information Science
University of Pittsburgh
135 N. Bellefield Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Last updated March 31, 2003