The first cohort of 12 students in the Certificate of Advanced Study in Health Sciences Librarianship (HealthCAS) program received graduation certificates at a Capstone event held on May 14, 2011. The event was held at the Bio-Medical Library at the University of Minnesota, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Medical Library Association (MLA) in Minneapolis. In addition to completing 12 credits of online coursework, each student conducted an applied research project over the course of the yearlong program, and submitted the results as a poster presentation at the MLA meeting. We were very pleased that every student’s poster submission was accepted and presented at this meeting.
A second cohort of 11 students is now enrolled in the program and progressing through the first course, Libraries in Healthcare Environments. A student visit to the Pitt campus is planned for the week of June 12.
HealthCAS is funded by a three-year grant to Pitt’s School of Information Sciences (iSchool) and HSLS from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The program consists of three semesters of online coursework. Each semester covers one four-credit course: (1) Libraries in Healthcare Environments, (2) Collections and Resources in Healthcare Environments, and (3) Reference Services and Instruction in Healthcare Environments. The independent research project spans all three semesters. The HealthCAS curriculum is developed and taught by a team of HSLS faculty librarians, who have adjunct iSchool faculty appointments.
Further information is available from the iSchool or HSLS.
~ Ester Saghafi