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- Path: sparky!uunet!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!paladin.american.edu!auvm!QMCUMC.MAIL.CORNELL.EDU!CAROLYN_REID
- Posted-Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 10:15:23 -0500
- X-Mailer: InterCon Dispatcher/SMTP for QuickMail
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- Message-ID: <199301221015238335@qmcumc.mail.cornell.edu>
- Newsgroups: bit.listserv.medlib-l
- Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 10:15:23 -0500
- Sender: Medical Libraries Discussion List <MEDLIB-L@UBVM.BITNET>
- From: Carolyn Reid <Carolyn_Reid@QMCUMC.MAIL.CORNELL.EDU>
- Subject: RE>librarians doing rounds with doctors?
- Lines: 44
-
- Melinda Rose writes:
- I've heard that in some hospitals in America, librarians were doing rounds
- with the doctors. The librarians would then supposedly do an online
- search to retrieve the latest information on the illnesses that the
- patients were suffering, or on potential treatments.
- ---------end of quotation---------
-
- Yes, Melinda, there is a Clinical Medical Librarian (CML). Indeed, librarians
- do go on rounds as a member of the patient care team and provide information
- to their health care colleagues on the topics that came up during the
- discussions. The Medical Library of the University of Missouri - Kansas City,
- under the direction of Gertrude Lamb, conducted the first research on this
- practice with funding from the National Library of Medicine. I am proud to
- have been a part of that institution for many years and to have participated
- in that pioneering work. The first UMKC study included three health care teams
- (each with its own librarian) and took place from 1972-75. A follow-up study,
- 1975-76, expanded the original work. Since that time the concept has been
- replicated in many locations and continues to this day.
-
- Your description of the basic work is quite accurate and it's most important
- that you have recognize it as proactive. That continues to be the most
- valuable aspect of CML work--that the librarian is present during discussions
- of patients and their situations, and can then be much more effective in
- providing relevant information for the rest of the team. The team aspect is
- also of great importance, as the librarian achieves greater recognition from
- other health professionals through the contributions made to patient care.
-
- There have been a number articles and reports published on CML's or Clinical
- Librarianship, many of them in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association.
- If you wanted to review the original research, the UMKC reports are available
- from ERIC (let me know if you'd like the citations). I'd also be pleased to
- give you more of my "historical" perspective, if you want. I'm now involved in
- administration and have not been on rounds for 12 years, but the CML
- experiences are significant and easy to recall. I'm eager to see the replies
- of those who are currently serving as Clinical Librarians, to learn of their
- more recent adventures.
-
- I wish you success - - -
- Carolyn
- ---Carolyn Anne Reid, Cornell Medical Library, New York City
- ---Phone: 212-746-6069 Fax: 212-746-6494
- ---E-mail: carolyn_reid@qmcumc.mail.cornell.edu
-
- .
-