Creating a curriculum based library instruction plan for medical students

[Excerpt] There are multiple situations in which a librarian may find themselves creating a multi-session or longitudinal curriculum-based library instruction program. Maybe you’ve been hoping to do just this very thing for a while, or you stepped into the shoes of a librarian that did this before you, or possibly you’re finding your motivation from an external force. You might be facing this challenge with years of teaching experience or not. No matter what the situation, this chapter will provide tips and strategies for developing a well-rounded library instruction program that focuses on the use of both information literacy skills and evidence based practice principles

One School: Using Teach-Throughs to Ensure Consistency

Presented as a Poster Presentation at 2020 IUSM Education Day

Developing a Best Practices Plan for Tutorials in a Multi-Library System

In 2010, the University of Iowa's library system administration created a task force to conduct a reevaluation of tools and spaces used for video tutorial creation across a multi-library system. Following this effort, a working group was charged with improving documentation and staff awareness of resources for developing video tutorials. The group observed that librarians were often independently creating videos that were variable in quality, lacked consistent branding, and were not often shared with others. This article will describe experiences at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa in selecting video tutorial software, and striving to establish a more structured process, including team-developed guidelines, for tutorial creation in a multi-library system. Project limitations and areas for future work will also be presented

Which treatments provide the most relief for pharyngitis pain?

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), acetaminophen, antibiotics, and oral and intramuscular steroids are effective (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, meta-analysis). Ibuprofen relieves pain more effectively than acetaminophen (SOR: A, meta-analysis). Antibiotics reduce pain in confirmed bacterial infections (SOR: A, multiple randomized controlled trials [RCTs]). Steroids are superior to placebo (SOR: A, meta-analysis). Traditional demulcents, agents that help form a film over mucous membranes, provide less than 30 minutes of pain relief (SOR: B, small RCT); demulcents that contain benzocaine or lidocaine are longer acting (SOR: B, small RCT). The efficacy of herbal remedies can't be determined because of lack of high-quality studies (SOR: A, meta-analysis). Zinc doesn't reduce pharyngitis symptoms (SOR: A, meta-analysis)

Assessment of Service Desk Quality at an Academic Health Sciences Library

Due to an identified need for formal assessment, a small team of librarians designed and administered a survey to gauge the quality of customer service at their academic health sciences library. Though results did not drive major changes to services, several important improvements were implemented and a process was established to serve as a foundation for future use. This article details the assessment process used and lessons learned during the project

Introducing First Year Medical Students to Personalized Medicine Concepts in a Small Group Activity

Presented as a Poster Presentation at 2020 IUSM Education Day.An individuals’ genetic profile is becomingly an increasingly important parameter in healthcare decisions. This small group activity was developed to introduce first year medical students in the Molecules to Cells and Tissues course to the concept and significance of Pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine. Additionally, this activity provided students with an opportunity to work with a large dataset and use the information to impact clinical decision making. This activity has two cases, takes student groups approximately 2 hours to complete, and requires internet access. Case materials are available through the learning management system Canvas, and include open-ended questions to guide students through the cases. In these cases students explore the functional significance of different alleles of a panel of cytochrome P450 genes. The group activity has the students examine a large data set of cytochrome P450 genes and cognate alleles to determine their prevalence in the local population and calculate the individuals’ gene scores. The students are then asked to explain the impact of the genotype (or gene score) on the resulting patient phenotype (i.e. the functional significance of the genotype). The first case involves a breast cancer survivor support group in which patients taking Taxol discuss lack of adequate pain relief from opioids and the potential impact of concomitant use of natural compounds/supplements on drug metabolism. The second case involves a patient presenting with recurrent stroke-like symptoms despite being on the anticoagulant medication clopidogrel. The patient is initially suspected to be non-compliant, but is later determined to be a poor metabolizer of the anticoagulant clopidogrelto its active form thus decreasing its efficacy. The expertise of the IUSM Medical Genetics research faculty was leveraged to provide a large data set of cytochrome P450 genes and cognate alleles. The selection of cytochrome P450 was based upon delivering content focused on the biochemistry of the enzyme system and provided an opportunity to highlight the drug interaction database available through IUSM Clinical Pharmacology (The FlockhartTable™ ; https://drug-interactions.medicine.iu.edu/). The addition of natural compounds was to draw students’ attention to the Natural Medicines database, which is the recommended source for evidence-based data on complementary and alternative medicine. Natural Medicines is available through the Ruth Lilly Medical Library and can be searched by substance or condition. It provides both a summary of the literature available on substances as well as the level of evidence or quality of studies done on the substance

Courting Apocalypse: Creating a Zombie-Themed Evidence-Based Medicine Game

In 2015, two librarians at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences at the University of Iowa turned their dreams into a reality and secured funding to build a zombie-themed evidence-based medicine game. The game features a “choose your own adventure” style that takes students through a scenario where a disease outbreak is taking place and a resident is asked to use evidence-based medicine skills to select a screening and diagnostic tool to use on potentially infected patients. Feedback on the game has been positive, and future plans include building additional modules on therapy, harm, and prognosis

When should you consider implanted nerve stimulators for lower back pain?

Patients can gain more pain relief from spinal cord stimulation (SCS) than from reoperation (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, 2 randomized controlled trials [RCTs]). SCS can also treat chronic low back pain effectively (SOR: B, cohort studies). It's indicated when conservative measures have failed (SOR: C, expert opinion). The side effects and failure rates of SCS are well documented and should be considered before recommending the therapy to patients (SOR: A, systematic review of RCTs and cohort studies)

How should you manage an overweight breastfed infant?

Monitor the growth of exclusively breastfed babies by plotting routine weights and lengths on the World Health Organization (WHO) growth curve (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, systematic reviews). Reassure parents that higher-than- normal weight gain in infants who are breastfeeding easily without supplementation has no known adverse effects. Advise parents to change behaviors that result in overfeeding or insufficient physical activity (SOR: C, expert opinion)