MEDICAL-EDUCATION AND FACULTY-DEVELOPMENT - A NEW ROLE FOR THE HEALTH-SCIENCES LIBRARIAN

This paper describes the roles and responsibilities of the associate d irector for medical education at the Primary Care Resource Center (PCR C), School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of Ne w York at Buffalo (UB). The PCRC was established to increase the numbe r of UB medical school graduates who selected graduate medical educati on in the generalist disciplines. The associate director, who is a hea lth sciences librarian, has established collaborative working relation ships with primary care physicians in the clinical departments of fami ly medicine, pediatrics, and internal medicine with the goal of improv ing the teaching effectiveness of faculty and residents. Another goal is to incorporate the use of computerized information technologies int o clinical practice by training physicians and residents, at specially equipped ambulatory training sites, in how to access and manage infor mation for the purpose of providing quality medical care. This has bee n accomplished in part through the provision of highly personalized in struction to participants. In addition to describing these activities, this paper examines how the duties of the associate director reflect the potential for long-term change in the roles and responsibilities o f health sciences librarians, whether they work in a traditional or no ntraditional setting.