Using microcomputers in rural preceptorships.

Current U.S. health manpower forecasts indicate an oversupply of physicians. In the Intermountain Region this oversupply is concentrated in the medical and surgical subspecialties, not in primary care specialties. Students cite fear of not knowing all that a general field requires as a reason for focusing their studies in a narrow area. Because ambulatory care experiences are not required of medical students at Utah, it is difficult to recruit students into the primary care specialties. One means of exposing students to primary care and rural medicine is through the clinical preceptorship. Beginning in 1985, with a grant from the National Library of Medicine, clinical students who elected the rural family practice preceptorship were given lap-top microcomputers to take with them to their preceptorship sites. Students were taught how to operate the computer and how to perform a MEDLINE search. Student evaluations of the experience were high and students reported feeling less concerned about the knowledge explosion and positive about improving their ability to access current medical literature. It is anticipated that by teaching students how to use this technology to provide better patient care, they will be more likely to consider primary care practices in rural areas.

Strategies and measures for our next century.

The centennial of the Medical Library Association offers an opportunity to reflect with some satisfaction on accomplishments and to consider the future. The Western Governors University is an illustration of the dynamic future. Professional values constitute both distinguishing characteristics and steadfast guides for succeeding in this complex environment. Powerful collaborative technologies now make it possible to overcome challenges that are beyond the capabilities of an individual librarian or library. Providing organized access to the Internet exemplifies these challenges. The profession has a strong history of cooperation but to take full advantage of collaboration, institutional and cultural barriers must be overcome. The National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) should be the facilitating agent in this process.

The Utah education network: a collaborative model.

High-speed data communications networks are transforming the operations, services, and roles of libraries. While the installation of the physical network is often the focus of activity, the administrative and political issues are, in fact, fundamental. For libraries to participate in and influence the development of networks, building new partnerships has proven to be an effective strategy. This paper describes the use of this strategy in the development of the Utah Education Network. This participation is essential if libraries are to take full advantage of the technologies and to ensure that networks reflect the fundamental values of the profession.

IAIMS and the library at the University of Utah.

The formal creation of an Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) at the University of Utah began in the fall of 1983. The keystone of the IAIMS effort is the HELP hospital information system. IAIMS at the University of Utah is a broad-based program extending across the Health Sciences Center and beyond to health professionals throughout the inter-mountain area. This paper describes the background that led to IAIMS, the IAIMS planning process, and the library's participation in this effort.