In the effort to continue developing both my instruction and systematic review skills, I had the extraordinary opportunity to attend the Evidence-Based Practice for Health Science Librarians (EBP for HSL) Workshop from June 23 – 26 at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston. Previously held at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, EBP for HSL moved to a hybrid model post-pandemic and has been held at MUSC for the last two years. Not only did this workshop support some of my major developmental goals, it also helped me pick up an extra 21 CE credits towards my Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) Certification.
Workshop Content
After about ten hours of pre-work earlier this month, 30 health sciences, medical, and dental librarians spent 2.5 days participating in large and small group activities to further their understanding and execution of evidence-based practice concepts and methods. Workshop sessions were concentrated on developing and answering focused clinical questions as they relate to study design.
The majority of our time was spent performing and teaching critical appraisal of randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews. A last-day (bonus) session on qualitative research drove home the reality that this type of research design is more important than ever in health humanities practice. We wrapped up the workshop with a SMART goals session tailored to each participant’s institutional setting.
Next Steps
One of the most interesting (and challenging) sessions of the workshop included practicing therapy, harm, and diagnosis calculations – which was pretty intimidating but turned out to be something I kind of geeked out on! Therefore, the next step with mastering not only statistical clinical calculations, but also a deeper understanding of critical appraisal in biomedical research, is the fully online Critical Appraisal Institute for Librarians (CAIFL) sponsored by the NY Medical College in Spring 2025. Also, EBP for HSL has a fellows program designed to train faculty tutors to facilitate future workshops. I’m already seeing this in my 2025 goal plan!
The Last Leg
Although being in Charleston was a joy (see the hydrangeas above), I need to direct particular thanks to the Dorchester County Library – Ashley River Branch for reserving me a room and enabling me to comfortably present at the inaugural Library Evidence Synthesis Services Symposium (LESSS) conference on my way home. It got me (and my snack bag) an hour closer to home on Wednesday and provided a beautiful backdrop for my presentation – no digital background needed.
Thanks to ZSR and the ZSR Board of Visitors for making this opportunity and experience possible through generous development and Innovation Grant funding!
8 Comments on ‘Colleen at EBP for HSL in Charleston’
Great post, Colleen! I’m so impressed with your Health Science Librarian knowledge and your willingness to learn about critical appraisal of biomedical research–oh my! You’re amazing!
This is wonderful, Colleen! This ties pretty well with some of the objectives listed in the Strategic Framework!
You would be a natural at facilitating the workshops in the future! Let’s make it happen!
Glad you were able to attend, Colleen!
Congratulations on an energizing and interesting workshop, combined with a great pit stop! Three cheers for public libraries and your work! 🙂
Colleen, I LOVE that you geek out on this stuff and are developing this incredible expertise to support our campus! Thanks for being my go-to ES person! (And I’m going to have to start using my WF tote as a snack bag, too….)
Wow! You packed in a lot in a short time! Very impressive and very relevant!
Amazing work, Colleen! Thanks for sharing! The EBP for ES workshop sounds great! I’m so impressed with the ES work you are doing and all the multi-tasking involved here to present on route home!