Note: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Eskind Biomedical Library is currently recruiting for an Information and Education Services Librarian Intern to begin July 1997. The Intern's position is a one-year appointment designed to provide post-MLS training in a dynamic health care environment. In additon to more traditional library products and services, interns are provided exposure to a variety of special projects within the library, such as a clinical medical librarian program, participation in the Medical Centeršs outreach efforts, library consultation services, and a patient information service. The successful candidate will be a recent MLS graduate. For additional information, please contact Nunzia Giuse, MD, MLS, Director, Active Digital Library, Eskind Biomedical Library, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37232-8340, (615) 936-1436 or nunzia.giuse@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu.
by Kimbra Wilder, MS
Information and Education Services Librarian Trainee
This year of internship is helping me grow as a professional in ways that would never have been possible had I immediately entered a typical health sciences librarian position. Eskind's internship director, Nunzia Giuse, MD, operates this training program under the assumption that true proactivity can occur only when a strong knowledge-base exists. As a result, her training emphasizes structured experiences that build an understanding of the health sciences in the context of a clinical, research, and patient-care environment.
In addition to direct work with patrons on the Information Desk, I've begun an in-depth study of medical terminology, and I'll audit an introductory Anatomy & Physiology course as part of my training this fall. Twice a week, I join Eskind's senior and junior librarians for SearchTalk, where we share particular search requests and leverage on the group's combined expertise to devise strategies. As one of the clinical librarians rounding with the MICU team, I've seen how librarians' expertise can be applied directly to patient care situations, and I'm learning the principles and practice of quality filtering. I can actually work on projects -- HIV outreach, clinical librarianship, collection development, web site evaluation -- and still step back to look at the larger picture to see where I fit in as a biomedical librarian.
This training also provides me with a window into upper-level library management. Under Dr. Giuse's guidance, I've attended the library's management team, steering council, and various committee meetings, and seen how these groups work together to plan and make decisions about the library's direction. I'm learning that an effective member of a medical library not only understands the changing health care environment, but knows how to leverage on available resources.
Through the variety and context of activities I'm exposed to, I'm developing a wide view of how the different departments of the library work together, and how the library as a whole functions as an integral part of the Medical Center.
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