The Critical Appraisal Institute for Librarians (CAIFL) is hosted by the New York Medical College Phillip Capozzi, M.D. Library and has been offered to medical and health science librarians every year since 2019. The institute aims to develop librarians’ critical appraisal skills which include a comprehensive understanding of clinical research design, biomedical statistics, and critical reasoning in order to teach their target populations.
I participated in CAIFL not only to home in on my major developmental and instructional goals, but also because it is the next and most advanced training available for instruction librarians supporting health science disciplines. Additionally, I picked up 40 CE credits towards my Academy of Health Information Professionals (AHIP) Certification.
Institute Highlights
Over eight weeks, 32 information professionals from health science and medical libraries across the country participated in a virtual and live 1.5 hour training session along with two-three hours of pre-work and assessments per week. Training included a paired instruction presentation with a CAIFL colleague and culminated with leading a Journal Club discussion. Institute modules included:
- Critical appraisal and clinical study designs
- Foundational statistics: Descriptive and inferential statistics & hypothesis testing
- Common measures of association in biomedical harm & therapy studies
- Critical appraisal of therapy studies
- Appraisal of diagnostic tool and screening studies
- Prognosis studies and systematic reviews
I will admit, this training was a heavy lift but one that will inform most of my major projects over the next few semesters if not years.
What’s Next?
Considering CAIFL is the last and most advanced option for librarians who teach and participate in evidence-based practices, I will undoubtedly experience a training void in the foreseeable future – what will I possibly do with my time?! Of course, I have plans…
This gives me the opportunity to develop and practice the very concepts I have been immersing myself in over the last three years. In addition to teaching LIB290: Advanced Library Research in Medical Literature this fall, which includes an embedded 6-week Critical Appraisal Workshop, I am developing stand-alone Critical Appraisal sessions for health science graduate students which will be offered starting this fall. Additionally, my Summer 2026 goals include training as faculty tutor at the Evidence-Based Practice for Health Science Librarians (EBP for HSL) Workshop at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Thanks to ZSR’s pro-development culture and funding for supporting my participation in this excellent training!
7 Comments on ‘Colleen completes the Critical Appraisal Institute for Librarians (CAIFL)’
Amazing job Colleen! ZSR is so lucky to have you. Excited to see the impact all this hard work will have on our ability to support our students and colleagues.
Colleen, I admire your work to improve your teachings well as, meeting your students needs. This sounds like a great experience for you, and I look forward to hearing more!
Congrats, Colleen!!
This is amazing, Colleen. You are doing such a great job. We are so lucky to have you!
Echoing everybody else, this is amazing work. Seeing all your work and professional development on the blog really inspires me to grow in my own role!
You are a health sciences librarian ninja, Colleen! This is fantastic. I’m always impressed with your work and achievements.
This is incredible and so impressive, Colleen. Thank you for your dedication.