Dear All,
With Susan's permission I copy this substantial summary of responses to
her question 'How to make presentation by librarians about their
services compelling and attractive to doctors'. Most of it is relevant
for presentations to any other health care profession as well, of
course. The summary is compelling reading in itself.
With thanks to Susan and best wishes,
Reinhard
Reinhard Wentz Dipl Bibl
Campus Library Manager
Imperial College London Library
Chelsea & Westminster Campus
369, Fulham Road
London SW10 9TH
Tel. 44(0)20 8746 8109
e-mail [log in to unmask]
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 11:51:41 -0500
From: Susan Klawansky <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Summary: Speaking to Doctors
Hi everyone - My original posting asked for your ideas on how to create
a compelling presentation for physicians, at a Grand Rounds, on library
services. As you'll see from the summary below, I had many creative
responses. Thank you to all who shared their ideas.
I'd like to draw your attention to the response I've placed first. I
don't recall this exchange, and would like to search for it in the
archives. But without more information, I fear drowning in retrieval.
If any of you has any further information about this, please contact me
directly.
Susan Klawansky
Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center
Seattle, WA
[log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About five years ago, I remember there was a lively discussion in Medlib
about a librarian's LEGENDARY presentation. This presentation struck
most commenting MEDlibbers as revolutionary because instead of spouting
the usual=
library stuff, it told the non-librarian audience some stuff that they
might=
really want to hear.
The topic was something like "How to get published" or "How you can get
published". The presenter's name and approach must be in the Medlib
archives somewhere.
I've worked in other types of libraries and to me this "Tell them
something they want to hear" type of presentation is common sense.
Treat it like an indepth reference question (like the Term Paper Clinics
I remember doing, by=
appointment only, in a university library's ref. dept. many years ago),
line=
up your online and even print sources, do some reality checks with some
well=
published docs beforehand (those who have used your library of course!)
and make it lively. Include some "blunders" if you want to, Dr. XYZ did
such and such, and this is why he shouldn't have, if only he had looked
in...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I first got here five years ago, my manager was asked to present at
a Grand Rounds and she did as you suggested with the list of resources
and services. Apparently it was not well received. One of our favorite
docs suggested that next time we plan the presentation with someone on
the medcial staff and go through a case study or two about how the
information gleaned from library resources supplemented or even changed
the course of patient care. He thought the information would be more
relevant presented in that manner, and that sharing billing with a
respected member of the medical staff would emphasize the partnership
between physician and librarian. If we ever get invited back, we'll try
this route.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is there a burning issue for your audience? Perhaps rather than tell
them
about your resources, you could take a topic, supplied by them prior to
the
rounds, and demonstrate how you found the answer. When I did our
Family
Practice rounds, they were being inundated with requests for
information
about a =93new =93 procedure that had been featured in the newspaper.
Mayb=
e
you could tie it in with EBM somehow?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're doing a PowerPoint presentation-
TOP 10 LIST: You could do a Dave Letterman imitation, a "top 10" list
and feature the "top 10 most underutilized services of the library", or
the "Top=
10 things not known about the library", etc.
Grand Rounds are cases, right?
ACTUAL CASES: You could get actual medical cases from the chief
residents or=
someone else and indicate what information resources could help get more
background information.
LIBRARY CASES: Another idea - wouldn't it be kind of fun to write your
own "library cases" based on frequently asked user questions, to cover
various scenarios and library services? eg. Chief resident approaches
the librarian=
with a request for information on X for a meeting with parents of a
child with X. Wants to know if the library has information of a
non-technical nature...or Medical student is rotating through the NICU
and needs information on X. Wants to know what will him him start
getting background information. Wants to know if he can get into the
library on the weekend...or Attending is working from home, preparing to
do a presentation for residents on X. Wants to know if he can remotely
access information electronically from home. Wants to know if his
secretary can come, pull and=
copy information...or CEO of hospital wants to know if the library has
any business journals that will help him track what the hospital down
the street=
is doing...
When we train our first year students in our problem-based learning
environment, that is the approach we take - theory, short scenarios...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think the concept of the "information continuum" is fascinating - the
development of a gleam in some researcher's eye all the way through the
process until the concept is established practice, and what types of
publications one can expect along the way. Today that probably starts
with=
blogs & chatlines, then on to meeting presentations & abstracts,
preliminary=
papers, expanded or final papers, medical textbooks, and finally the
popular=
press (consumer health). Sidelines will be the products that are
distilled=
down for easy use by the physicians: "essence of information," as it
were.
Online resources, CD's, PDA's, and now even info that can be loaded
onto cell phones (per latest UpToDate info that I got today).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Would a physician partner/co-presenter work? Someone who has been a
champion=
for your library and is well-respected by the staff? If yes, that
partner may have some neat insights for you about how to approach the
program.
Do you have a neat case study that the two of you could present together
that would tell a story? Physicans are used to the case study approach.
Half CSI and half "How did they do that?"
If not, maybe some video clips embedded in your PowerPoint? Summaries
or testimonials from a few good library users showing how they achieved
good results by working with the library?
Or maybe a Pediatric Resident with a good sense of humor that everyone
likes= ?
Just brainstorms......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Depends on what you have, but when I speak w/ docs, I stress the "get
info quick for your own convenience", and also that they can just give
us a call in the library for us to get any kind of info they want, from
book chapters to literature searches, to "a few good articles", to any
article they might want. Also I stress that we can provide them with pt
ed materials, and we are just a phone call, fax, or email away. They
like to hear about emedicine, uptodate, mdconsult, dynamed, any of those
"quick look products."=
Then they do like to hear about medline, and linking to full text
articles,=
for when they have a little more time to fool around with researching a
topic of interest. Some of the electronic textbooks also interest
them-- more "quick look" stuff.
I think they like the "quick look" stuff, and then knowing that we are
"at the ready" to provide them almost anything they want, then finally,
that if they do have an interest, a little more about the other
electronic resources=
we provide. They also like to know that we are available for one-on-one
demo's and instruction. They seem to respond more positively to that
level of instruction than to classes.
Hope this helps. Good luck. I recntly had 10 minutes at the quarterly
general staff meeting, and was met with a very enthusiastic response and
follow up to our presentation of offerings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What about a few case studies highlighting the use of library resources
for solving the problems. You don't have to give the technical names of
the product - i.e. UpToDate or MD Consult. Just give the dilemma that
started the search and the information learned. The interested will
follow through & come asking. Nonlibrary users ignore all hooks you set
forth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I had to present a short session on library services to the
accreditation team who were doing the hospital accreditation. Like you
I wanted something=
'different', so I decided to base it on a theme. My theme was going on
a treasure hunt. It went along the lines that I was lucky as I got to
go on treasure hunts nearly everyday! The treasure was that elusive
gold nugget of information a doctor requires. I used a real life
request from a pediatrician who wanted an article. He was not sure of
the title, but it was about .... and probably printed in the last 5
years etc etc. The usual picture! So I developed a simple powerpoint
demo showing how I use technology. You may be able to do something on a
similar theme.
I forgot to add a few things. I explained that the computer was our
spade to do all the hard work, the email was a compass giving us
directions and the internet was our map. At the end I gave them all
some 'treasure' - a gold-wrapped chocolate attached to pirate type
treasure map with an X marks the spot of the library with contact
details etc. I was amazed that at the end they applauded and my General
Manager was stunned!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I did a Grand Rounds several years ago on evidence-based medicine in
psychiatry and used the Loch Ness monster as "the hook"--i.e., the
elusiveness of EBM resources in mental health (at least at that time).
For examples, use some humorous ones, such as the killer soda pop
machine citations that the NLM classes use in PubMed, or the citations
to references=
about chocolate preferences or gifts of chocolates to health providers.
For "wow 'em" examples, use the searches where the librarian's expertise
in MeSH makes all the difference in the world in search results.
If you're demonstrating more than one database, show the same topic in
each of the databases and how one database covers one aspect better but
another database is stronger in a different aspect of the same topic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've been asked to something similar for a physicians' meeting in May.
I was told only about 30 physicians would attend, so I began to think
about something hands on...that is, do a brief (15 minutes) summary and
explanation of the library's offerings and then let them play with the
products. Maybe divide into teams and have a contest. The competitive
aspect might appeal to them. Either that or turn them off
completely...you know, after a hard day at work being asked to use their
brains.
One problem would be having enough work stations available. If you had
a wireless zone, you could get people to bring in their laptops. I just
started thinking about this, so I'll be interested in the feedback you
get from the list.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a great opportunity for you. I do one of these lectures each
year. The first time I talked about the internet and showed them tons
of sites and they loved it. My hook was about time - how much time they
waste on the=
internet because they don't really know where to look, how to search
efficiently, etc. etc. I started the presentation by slamming down a
stack of papers, journals etc. and said "I spent 3 hours online last
night and I couldn't find anything!" .... pause ... looked around ...
and continued "Sound familiar???" The heads were bobbing like crazy and
everyone was laughing. They will be so grateful to have someone with
expertise to show them the "invisible internet", interesting sites, and
search terminology, and especially how to take advantage of the products
that you have available= .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can't answer your question, but can suggest telling them you are going
to save them time.
If you are showing them how to use PubMed, it is because it will save
them time. Trying to get them to sign up for Loansome Doc -- it will
save them time. How to access Ovid, it is to save them time. .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It has been my experience that the "older" physicians do not , will not,
and=
can not learn how to search a database effectively. Why bother trying
to teach them. I would focus on what the specific products do. I would
present your different products by using the same "topic" or "search
Terms",=
do a search and present the results to show the differences between the
products.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You might try beginning with a clinical example or two (either real ones
that you dealt with, or scenarios that demonstrate why a physician would
consult either you or the library's resources to help obtain the best
clinical information).
I've come here from a long stint at a large academic medical center, and
I enjoy having a physician either come into the library or call me
wanting information for a particular patient issue-- especially if it is
something rare and they want the most recent information on it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don=92t know if this will help, but I personally have had better luck
when= I categorize my offerings not by the name of the service, but by
what=92s in i= t that applies to them.
For example, rather than putting up posters with names like MD Consult
and Ovid and Elsevier and otehr complex names=85.I put up a heading
saying
=93Journals Full-text Access=94 and then list the services underneath.
Mos=
t
people don=92t recall product names, but they can connect with what they
nee= d.
=93Hey, can you get this article full-text from one of those service
vendo= r thingies?=94
So =96 suddenly =96 the library has more than just =93products.=94 To
them, = it has solutions to problems they have every day.
Imagine yourself in Barnes & Noble. Do you want to see signs that say
=93Gothic=94 or =93Noir=94 or =93All McGraw Hill pubs=94 --? No =96 you
wan= t the section that has poetry or geography/maps or heath reference
regardless who publishes them. (well, I know I do, anyway)
I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with the lady in charge of
Customer Interactions at the nearby B&N. Boy, did I learn a lot!
Mostly,=
I learned that my way of thinking was a great system that no one outside
the=
library world could even hope to interpret. So =96 I had to meet their
nee=
ds
as THEY say it. Talk about a huge shift in thinking!
Good luck; if you can hand the physicians 1-page color brochures (or a
tri-fold, which gives you 2 sides) on what problems you can help them
with=85that=92d be great. If you can actually HAND it to them, they
will t=
ake
it=85..well, we can hope!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You might want to begin your presentation with a statistic - the number
of citations entered in Medline on a yearly basis. The last time I
checked it was over 400,000. From there you can talk about how the
library can help them keep current and manage this flow of information.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susan, the biggest problem is where to start a research. A lot of times
they came to us not because they don't know the library resources but
because we have so much, they get intimidated. Maybe you can come up
with a=
few scenarios, and show them how you approach things according to the
needs.=
If they have a new diagnosis, they should go to an E-book and find some
description on it right away. If they want to write an article, they
need to search all the medical databases, OCLC WorldCat, NIH web sites,
government statistical sites..., if they want something for their
patients, they need to use the library consumer health database,
reputable web sites. There might be other resources in your library, so
come up some ideas to cover their different needs. After they have done
their research, you can show them how to obtain these items through
Interlibrary Loan.
It is hard for them to remember what you showed them in 1 hour, but at
least=
they have a general idea where to start looking when they have similar
situations. Maybe you can find a doctor and run your ideas by him, or
ask him what he would do if he needs some literature.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you done anything with handhelds? This really seems popular with
the
younger MDs and there is so much downloadable to handhelds now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Perhaps you could find a good example of a real search to start off with
(ask your favorite MD for suggestions as to a good topic) and then show
how the user can go from one resource to another--for example, start in
Harrison's Online (or something like that), there will probably be a
link to=
PubMed for some of the references, go to PubMed and use "Related
articles", go to full text of the journal article.
I like to also show them DxPlain. Although it is a product marketed
directly to MD's, you could "borrow" someone's login to let MD's know
that it is there and they can use it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Congratulations on this opportunity. I'm certainly no expert, but I
think one of the best things I learned at an MLA chapter meeting was
about story telling in presentations from Susan Taylor Alling. Could
you tell a story from the point of view of a medical staff member who
came to you to find some particular information? It goes along with the
tracer methodology for JCAHO now, how this problem led you to this
resource etc. It is a "hook" every one can appreciate.
I just finished the book "The spirit catches you and you fall down"
about the clash of culture between western medicine and a Hmong family
who's daughter had epilepsy. I know you have access to some wonderful
cultural references in Seattle. Could you personalize it with a story
of how it was used?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've done quite a few presentations on library resources for physicians
and nurses at my hospital. I've found the best approach is to apply the
information to things they encounter in their day to day work. For
example,=
I provide examples of different kinds of questions they might encounter
in their rotations such as background questions, drug questions, patient
education, etc.. and then I show them a resource that could answer that
question for them. I've also done presentations in which I use a
clinical case throughout the presentation and demonstrate how library
resources can be used to address different questions that might come up
in the course of treating the patient. The challenge for me is finding
the cases/real life questions. I often consult current awareness
resources, like MDConsult, to see what the hot topics are or I do a
Cochrane search to see where there are=
conflicting views on a particular topic. I try to focus on
resources/features that are quick and easy to access - and don't spend
much=
time on the nitty-gritty details of literature searching (that's a
different=
presentation!). We are fortunate to have access to many electronic
resources so I usually set up a laptop with internet connections to show
the=
resources live.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susan, I did a presentation to our Senior mgmt about resources and
created a=
visual by using bottles of different sizes and pouring coloured water
from one to another (I was talking about how both print and electronic
resources are needed and that online info is only available reliably
from about 1998). I thought at the time one could use boxes of various
sizes and shapes to also talk about variation in resources and delivery.
And funding.=
As my time slot was at the end of a very lengthy (and boring) power
point demo from the IT guys I was determined I would be noticed. And I
was. And mgmt remember... I have found our teaching sessions invariably
assume more skills than the docs have.
So my advice is pick a theme - make it funny and have a good unusual
visual to back it up. Do it as a story - I have heard some very
memorable "fairy tales" told to illustrate a point. Bob Cronenberg from
Philadelphia PL being one such presenter.
I always start with "once upon a time". It is a wonderful hook...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think you are on the right track in recognizing that librarians are
good when talking to librarians, but it's tough to translate that over
in a way that clinicians can get jazzed about what we do. I think we
all struggle with that.
I would build your talk off the hospital's mission and strategic plan.
For example, if patient safety is part of their strategic plan, talk
about how good information and knowledge resources contribute to the
effectiveness, safety and reliability of care, patient-centeredness,
etc.
Underscore the value of what you do and how it contributes to what they
do, rather than giving them numbers of books and journals. A
testimonial or two=
couldn't hurt.
Present yourself as a partner in achieving those goals, rather than
someone who "supports" them.
It also might be interesting, if you haven't done this already, to do a
walkaround in the clinical areas to ask practitioners what they need and
to just watch them do what they do. You may come away with an
interesting angle as to how to talk about your work from their
perspective.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You would be in a position to know your own doctors and the kinds of
questions they ask better than anyone else... Maybe you could use these
to generate illustrations of how the library can work for them. Quick
tricks of features that would be really useful but are often overlooked
are useful.=
I guess that when I address different groups I often try to use the
very generic "hook" of "what's in it for me..." from the perspective of
the user. And, yes, I think case-based illustrations usually work
better to bring that home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Susan, I have given a couple of Grand Rounds regarding library services
in conjunction with presentations from a physician about evidence based
medicine. That worked pretty well - we discussed basics of EBM, and when
it came to the "clinical question" section, I took the question and
answered it=
using some of the library resources we have. I did it once with captured
medline,etc screens in a powerpoint and I think I did it another time
with internet access in the conference room. I liked doing the
presentation with=
a physician because it gave more credibility to it. It also meant I did
not=
have to talk the entire hour! I then gave info out to everyone present
about obtaining passwords, etc to search on their own.
-----Original Message-----
From: UK medical/ health care library community / information workers
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Hilton Boon Michele
Sent: 15 March 2005 13:37
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: BMJ - Clinical decision support systems: systematic review
Of interest from BMJ (Online First):
Improving clinical practice using clinical decision support systems: a
systematic review of trials to identify features critical to success
(PDF) http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/rapidpdf/bmj.38398.500764.8Fv1
----------------------------------------------------
Michele Hilton Boon
Information Scientist
National Prescribing Centre
Tel: 0151 794 8136
Fax: 0151 794 8139
www.npc.co.uk
Information is the currency of democracy. (Thomas Jefferson)
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