Defining Graduate Medical Education (GME) Librarianship: Creating and Developing a New GME Library Program

Background: An academic research institution and a corporate hospital system formed a new graduate medical education (GME) consortium. The consortium objectives were to increase the scholarly activity of the residents and fellows in a national hospital system’s GME residency program to match the requirements set forth by the ACGME. A GME librarian position was created specifically to serve the GME research programs at Florida area hospitals to help with this objective. The GME Librarian experience is unique and other GME Librarians will benefit from hearing about the activities and lessons learned from the GME Librarian in this position.

Description: This paper describes the experience, activities, and lessons learned from the creation of a new GME Library program. It focuses on entering the nine hospitals within the hospital network area, developing training and supports to establish partnerships with the hospitals’ program directors and coordinators. It addresses the importance of Meet & Greets, conducting a needs assessment, creating curricula utilizing both academic and corporate content, drawing upon the expertise within the academic home, and addressing pertinent ACGME requirements. It concludes with lessons learned and next steps.

Findings:Meet & Greets allowed a low-key way to introduce the GME librarian and university, explain the role in the GME program consortium; introduced initial tools to help RFFs with scholarly work, and established trust and familiarity with the RFFs and hospital GME staff (e.g. program coordinators). A Needs Assessment survey helped us develop a tailored curriculum for each specialty and/ or hospital environment, discover what is known and not known among the RFFs, and set a baseline for future use to determine the success of the library programming. Creating curricula utilizing both academic and corporate content meant maintaining academic integrity and unifying the culture and vision of both institutions to improve patient outcomes and achieve worthwhile academic and scholarly activity required by ACGME. Developing this dynamic and evolving curriculum requires a continuous improvement process based on feedback from the RFFs, the hospitals, and both institutions.

Conclusion: The GME Librarian experience is unique and other GME Librarians will benefit from hearing about the activities. Lessons learned from the GME Librarian in a new academic-corporate consortium: Establishing relationships with all stakeholders early and regularly is critical. It is critical to make friends with the program coordinators. It is important to make yourself invaluable. Invite yourself don’t wait to be invited. An elevator speech goes a long way.