LIBRARIANS’ ROLES IN EVIDENCE BASED DENTISTRY EDUCATION IN

THE U.S. AND CANADA

Xiaomei Gu9/26/2010

Madison, WI

EVIDENCE BASED MEDICINE (EBM)

1. Best evidence from medical literature

2. Clinical expertise3. Patient values

1

3 2

FIVE STEPS OF EBM

1. Formulate the question2. Search for answers3. Appraise the evidence4. Apply the results5. Assess the outcome

LIBRARIANS’ ROLES IN EBM Two recent empirical studies

Survey of over 200 librarians in the MLA Hospital Libraries Section Lack of time was the major barrier to hospital librarians’

involvement in EBM Most participants had taken formal EBM classes It was mostly nurses who initiated the request to conduct EBM

literature searches

Pappas, C. “Hospital Librarians’ Perceptions Related to Evidence-Based Health Care.” Journal of the Medical Library Association 96, no. 3 (July 2008): 235.

LIBRARIANS’ ROLES IN EBM (CONTINUED)

Survey of over 500 medical librarians in academic libraries, hospital libraries, and special libraries in the U. S.

Medical librarians are playing various roles in supporting EBM practice

While hospital librarians are the most active in providing EBM related services, such as providing EBM searches, academic medical librarians are especially active in teaching EBM

Li, P., and Wu, L. “Exploring the Real World: Medical Librarians’ Involvement in Supporting Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) Practice.” (2009). Available: <http://www.cais-acsi.ca/proceedings/2009/Li_Wu_2009.pdf>. Accessed: July 19, 2010.

EVIDENCE BASED DENTISTRY (EBD)

“an approach to oral health care that requires the judicious integration of systematic assessments of clinically relevant scientific evidence, relating to the patient's oral and medical condition and history, with the dentist's clinical expertise and the patient's treatment needs and preferences”

--American Dental Association (ADA), 2001

LIBRARIANS AND EBD EDUCATION

Knowledge gap: no empirical study in the literature examining the current roles of dental librarians in EBD education

Librarian

OBJECTIVES

To describe the current roles of dental librarians in EBD education including their perceptions of EBD and barriers to their involvement.

METHODS: WEB-BASED SURVEY Target population: academic librarians who serve DDS

programs in North America 58 institutions in the U.S. and 10 in Canada offer

accredited DDS programs The directory from MLA Dental Section lists 57 dental

librarians from 57 institutions in the U.S. and 10 in Canada

Considering the small size of the population of interest, no sampling was conducted.

METHODS (CONTINUED)

Email pre-notifications were sent out to alert participants and to verify their email addresses

65 dental librarians in 65 institutions were identified for survey distribution

55 in the U.S. and 10 in Canada

DESIGNING AND PRETESTING SURVEY

Questionnaire: 12 multiple-choice questions and one open-ended question

Question categories basic work experience involvement in EBD education training on and perceptions of EBD

Pretested by 3 librarians in North Carolina

DISTRIBUTING SURVEY

Questionnaire was programmed and administered using Qualtrics survey software (Provo, UT)

A unique survey URL was send to each potential participant

DATA ANALYSIS

Qualitative data for multiple-choices questions was automatically generated by Qualtrics

Content analysis of responses to the open-ended question and text entries for some of the multiple-choices questions was conducted manually

RESULTS: SURVEY RESPONSE RATE

46 librarians responded 39 from the U.S. and 7 from Canada

Response rate: 71% 79% of all the institutions in the U.S. and

Canada offering the DDS program.

Please take the EBD survey!

RESULTS: PARTICIPANT BACKGROUND

More than half (57%) have worked in their current libraries for 11 or more years

The majority (91%) also serve as the primary contact librarians for other programs besides DDS programs

RESULTS: EBD EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Answer Response

%

The principles of EBD are integrated throughout an entire curriculum

23 52%

Individual classes 14 32%Other (please specify) 14 32%Standalone for credit course 5 11%Standalone non-credit course 1 2%

RESULTS: ROLES IN TEACHING EBD COURSES

Answer Response

%

Teach students EBD literature searching skills

32 97%

Offer students individual or group consultations upon request

29 88%

Train dental faculty on EBD literature searching

19 58%

Purchase new materials to support the course

18 55%

Develop/maintain course-tailored instructional materials

16 48%

Design or help design course syllabus

14 42%

Other (please describe) 3 9%

RESULTS: INVOLVEMENT IN OTHER EBD SERVICES

Answer Response %

Offer dental students consultations on EBD literature searching skills upon request

40 89%

Offer dental faculty consultations on EBD literature searching skills upon request

39 87%

Develop/maintain instructional materials 23 51%Offer workshops or short classes on EBD literature searching skills

20 44%

None 5 11%Other (please specify) 2 4%

RESULTS: FREQUENCY OF ASSISTING EBD LITERATURE SEARCHING

More than half (52%) reported they assisted DDS students at least once or twice a year.

Similarly, more than half (57%) reported they assisted dental faculty at least once or twice a year.

RESULTS: COMPETENCY IN PROVIDING EBD SERVICES

The majority (89%) felt competent in teaching EBD and providing EBD services

Reason for incompetency: lack of hands-on experience in providing such services

RESULTS: METHODS TO GAIN EBD KNOWLEDGE

Answer Response %Self-instruction 41 93%Conference programs 27 61%Workshops 25 57%In-service training 21 48%Medical Library Association (MLA) Continuing Education

13 30%

Other (please specify) 6 14%Library school program 1 2%

RESULTS: BARRIERS TO LIBRARIANS’ INVOLVEMENT IN

EBD EDUCATION

Answer Response %Not enough interest from the dental school or dental faculty

29 64%

Not enough time 16 36%Not enough training on EBD 11 24%Not enough subject knowledge 11 24%Not enough supporting staff 8 18%Other (please describe) 6 13%Not enough teaching skills 5 11%Not enough support from library administrator in professional development

2 4%

RESULTS: PERCEPTIONS OF EBD

Widespread appreciation and enthusiasm toward EBD

“It needs to foster the development of more effective research to strengthen the evidence base and (we) must learn how to develop secondary sources built around how dentist(s) actually practice”

SUMMARYDental librarians are playing multiple and diverse

roles in EBD education and other EBD related services and feel competent in these roles

Despite of the low level of interest from some of the dental schools/students, dental librarians in North America are enthusiastic towards supporting EBD and are also aware of the challenges

Potential training needs on EBD and teaching skills

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

Results are based on self-reporting

The listed items in the multiple-choice questions could potentially restrain participants’ thinking processes.

POTENTIAL FUTURE RESEARCH

How librarians can successfully integrate EBD into the “crowded” dental curricula

Viewpoints from administrators/faculty/students

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Survey participants

Kate McGraw, UNC-CH Health Sciences Library Joanne Marshall, UNC-CH School of Information

and Library Science Connie Schardt, Duke University Medical Center

Library