On Friday, March 8, 2013, I attended the second annual Latino Health Equity Conference at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). This conference, organized by the Hispanic Health Opportunities Learning Alliance (H2OLA) and funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, is a project of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) / CSULB Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation, and Leadership Training, in collaboration with the CSULB College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the College of Health and Human Services. (more…)

The Medical Library Association’s educational webcast, “Partnering to Prevent Diagnostic Error: Librarians on the Inside Track,” held on March 13, 2013, was a success!

The National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Pacific Southwest Region (NN/LM PSR), sponsored nine (9) regional sites for the broadcast of MLA’s Educational Webcast. There were a total of 97 people who viewed the webcast. (more…)

by Sunny Sritongsook, MLIS, AHIP
Medical Librarian
Scripps Mercy Hospital
San Diego, CA

Health care reform has repurposed health care in the US, and hospital leaders have been strategizing ways to continually improve processes for increased quality of care, while reducing medical errors and redundancy in the system. On the whole, it’s not an easy task to undertake, but utilizing knowledge management (KM) fits squarely with the design for immediate change in a complex environment. (more…)

by Frances Chu, MLIS, RN/NP
Associate Director of Reference & Outreach, Pumerantz Library
Western University of Health Sciences
Pomona, CA

On March 1, 2013, I attended the workshop Diagnostic Error: A Multidisciplinary Exploration, at Long Beach Memorial/Miller Children’s Hospital, with instructors Mark Graber, MD, Barb Jones, and Lorri Zipperer. The workshop focused on how clinicians make diagnostic errors and how librarians can be involved in a multidisciplinary team to address the issue of diagnostic error. Of interest to me, as a librarian and previously a clinician, were the studies about how clinicians think and make decisions, and how that can lead to diagnostic errors. (more…)

Introduction
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) has a long, respected history of providing resources for health professionals, scientists, and researchers, but it may come as a surprise that it also offers quality, unique materials for K-12 science educators. NLM’s Specialized Information Services (SIS) division is working diligently towards creating resources that are fully vetted and tied to national education standards. A recent webinar presented to NN/LM staff by Andrew Plumer of SIS highlighted numerous resources that include lesson plans for middle and high school students. These freely available educator resources help students make the connection between scientific concepts and community health, environmental quality, natural and human-caused hazards, and other issues. While these resources are geared towards educators, school and public librarians will also benefit from knowing the breadth and depth of what is available. (more…)