Evidence Based Nutrition and the Integrated Librarian

摘要

Program objective:?Integration of a medical librarian into undergraduate nutrition Professional Practice class with an evidence based nutrition component. The objective of this integration is to increase the success rate of the PEN (Practice Evidence Nutrition) project.?Setting:?Undergraduate Nutrition Program.?Participants:?Third-year undergraduate nutrition students.?Program:?The librarian was invited to present PubMed in January 2011 to the Professional Practice class, which lead to repeat visits and more detailed instruction. What started as a one-shot presentation is now a highly integrated series of presentations and hands-on computer lab components that focus on the completion of a PEN project.?Main results:?Through constant review and modifications over the years, the librarian has been successfully integrated into the curriculum of not only the intended class, Professional Practice, but also into the Research Methods class.?Conclusion:?The librarian's knowledge of evidence-based medicine and the willingness of the professor to make use of the librarian's expertise resulted in a collaborative working relationship centred on student success. Such a high level of successful integration is possible through a good working relationship with the professor. A bonus of the integration into the class is more involvement within other areas the nutrition curriculum and with the other faculty members of the nutrition program.