Creative Curriculum: The Experience of Writing and Teaching Formative Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (FOSCEs).

The launch of the revised medical school curriculum in fall 2014 provided new opportunities for librarians to collaborate with clinical faculty. As a result of past informatics instruction embedded in the first-year curriculum, librarians were invited to expand this content as part of a new Formative Objective Structured Clinical Examination (FOSCE) initiative. This article describes the stages of this project from writing and teaching the FOSCE informatics cases to improvements which were made after the first year. A description of the overall curriculum and information about lessons learned in each of these stages is included.

The Development and Impact of a Social Media and Professionalism Course for Medical Students.

PROBLEM: Inappropriate social media behavior can have detrimental effects on students' future opportunities, but medical students are given little opportunity to reflect upon ways of integrating their social media identities with their newly forming professional identities. INTERVENTION: In 2012, a required educational session was developed for 1st-year medical students on social media and professional identity. Objectives include identifying professionalism issues and recognizing positive social media use. The 2-hour large-group session uses student-generated social media examples to stimulate discussion and concludes with an expert panel. Students complete a postsession reflection assignment. CONTEXT: The required social media session occurs early in the 1st year and is part of the Professionalism curriculum in The George Washington University School of Medicine. Reflection papers are graded for completion. OUTCOME: The study began in 2012 and ran through 2014; a total of 313/505 participants (62%) volunteered for the study. Assessment occurred through qualitative analysis of students' reflection assignments. Most students (65%, 203/313) reported considering changes in their social media presence due to the session. The analysis revealed themes relating to a broader understanding of online identity and opportunities to enhance careers. In a 6-month follow-up survey of 76 students in the 2014 cohort who completed the entire survey, 73 (94%) reported some increase in awareness, and 48 (64%) made changes to their social media behavior due to the session (response rate = 76/165; 46%), reflecting the longer term impact. LESSONS LEARNED: Opportunities for discussion and reflection are essential for transformational learning to occur, enabling understanding of other perspectives. Incorporating student-submitted social media examples heightened student interest and engagement. The social media environment is continually changing, so curricular approaches should remain adaptable to ensure timeliness and relevance. Including online professionalism curricula focused on implications and best practices helps medical students develop an awareness of their electronic professional identities.

A Profession Without Limits: The Changing Role of Reference Librarians.

Reference librarians, specifically those working in academic health sciences environments, have expanded their roles and taken on new and unique responsibilities. While librarians at The George Washington University's Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library continue to provide traditional reference services, they have gone beyond their comfort zone in many cases to become involved in activities that are outside of the librarian's established role. This article describes the current roles of Himmelfarb's reference librarians, as well as the way these librarians prepared for these roles and addressed the associated challenges.

Expanding our roles: embedded in curriculum design.

This article describes how librarians became involved as members of an interdisciplinary curricular team in a problem-based learning course for first- and second-year medical students. The experience illustrates how librarians can become part of a team, collaborating with medical faculty to assist in revising curricula, incorporating innovative teaching techniques, and creating effective simulated patient case scenarios. Working within an interdisciplinary collaborative team on curriculum development allows librarians to move beyond the traditional role of instruction and can lead to additional opportunities, including research and ongoing involvement in curricular changes.