Abstract
<p><strong>Program objective:</strong><span> 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. </span></p><p><strong>Setting:</strong> Undergraduate Nutrition Program. </p><p><strong>Participants:</strong> Third-year undergraduate nutrition students. </p><p><strong>Program:</strong> 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. </p><p><strong>Main results:</strong> 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. </p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> 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.</p>
Highlights
Librarians are finding new ways every day to add value to their institutions
evidence-based practice (EBP) has become common throughout many health disciplines, including nutrition and dietetics
Competency standards written at the association level have been evolving to include EBP, which has a direct impact on undergraduate curriculum development
Summary
Librarians are finding new ways every day to add value to their institutions. A well-known value-added service is the embedded or integrated librarian within faculties and classrooms [1Á12]. Competency standards written at the association level have been evolving to include EBP, which has a direct impact on undergraduate curriculum development One of these competency documents was published via the Dietitians of Canada in April 2013 by the Partnership for Dietetic Education and Practice (supported by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada). One of the main competencies is to “participate in practice-based research” which includes: demonstration of research and evaluation knowledge, ability to identify research questions, ability to consider methods and ethical aspects of research, ability to critically appraise and interpret literature, and ability to summarize and effectively communicate research [21]. There are various contributors that submit KPs to PEN, including experts in the field and undergraduate students in nutrition programs (http://www.pennutrition.com/contributors.aspx)
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