A new website called, A Method for Introducing Competency Genomics (MINC), from the National Human Genome Research Institute, provides an excellent starting point for nurses who want to integrate genomics into their practice. MINC offers resources for providers with varying levels of experience.
From the MINC home page, there are three convenient ways to get started:
- Click on For Administrators or For Educators to learn how to use the toolkit to meet needs specific to your area.
- Find the answers to basic questions on how to integrate genomics into practice.
- Go straight to the resources and browse interventions offered by other nurses tailored to their specific setting.
Also included are video testimonials from health administrators and educators describing how they overcame barriers as they developed the necessary genomics knowledge to offer personalized care to their patients.
~Jill Foust

Over the years, journals such as Academic Medicine, Journal of Nursing Education, and the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education have published articles about the benefit of creative outlets for students through visual arts and creative writing.
Frequent visitors to the library may note how it can be a busy place, and not always quiet. You may find yourself distracted by others setting up at a computer, getting papers from the printer, or just chatting with fellow classmates during a study break. In response to the student requests, a new quiet study area has opened on Falk Library’s main floor. An enclosed area separate from the main part of the library, the quiet study room seats 44 at individual study carrels, with a four-seat table also available. The room entrance is located beyond the bookshelves in the far left corner of the library’s main floor. The entrance will soon be programmed for swipe card access for health sciences students using their Pitt ID cards.
Before Google, librarians were a major source for all types of information. Since the birth of Google in 1998, it really hasn’t changed all that much. October is National Medical Librarians Month, so this is a good time to write about “interesting” questions HSLS librarians have received over the years. Some are funny, odd, or just unusual.


