Library Insider
Health Sciences Library Helps the Next Generation of Health Professionals
You may have noticed an influx of high school students on campus over the past several weeks. Many of these talented young men and women between the ages of 15 and 18 are part of the University of Pittsburgh Health Career Scholars Academy. This is a residential, four-week program aimed at exposing nearly 100 gifted high school students to health careers.
As part of the program, students are required to complete an independent research project on a health care topic of their choosing. This consists of a written report and poster presentation. The Health Sciences Library System supports this next generation of health professionals by hosting the students for two 1.5-hour research sessions.
Joseph Grugan, residence life leader, University of Pittsburgh Health Career Scholars Academy, with Rebecca Abromitis (SIS ’95G), Health Science Library System research and instruction librarian, lead student participants at the second library session.
In the first session, research and instruction librarians offer a mix of educational and practice sessions to explain strategies to formulate a literature search; find high-quality, easy-to-understand health information using MedlinePlus; locate scholarly journal articles using PubMed; and utilize the library catalog to find books on their research topics. They also provide instruction on finding images for their poster presentations, as well as demonstrate tools to assist with referencing their resources. The session ends with a game of Jeopardy to reinforce learning.
The second library session is devoted to helping the students find resources for their research project using the skills learned from the previous session. Falk Library classrooms are reserved for the students to have dedicated computers connected to library resources, and research and instruction librarians assist students with locating evidence-based information on their research topics. Aside from attending the two dedicated library sessions, library staff continue to assist the students over the four-week period as they work on their research projects.
Display cases at Falk Library feature information about a variety of health careers.
This year, a display case was set up outside the library to showcase a variety of health careers such as physician assistant, orthotist or medical illustrator. Links to websites for more information on health careers are also on display.
Do you have a child or relative thinking about a career in the health professions? You may find some of these websites useful:
Renae Barger is the associate director for Research, Instruction and Clinical Information Services at the Health Sciences Library System and the program lead for the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Middle Atlantic Region.
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