Selling CAT's : action needed for the Information Specialist!

Selling CATs: action needed for the Information Specialist! CEC Finding evidence for everyday clinical questions has become very important for doctors. Training this ability has also become part of medical education, especially for residents. In the Netherlands the Central Council for resident education demands that a resident presents a CAT (Critical Appraisal of a Topic) twice a year. Medical libraries are usually not considered a partner for this kind of education. But we will show in this course that we are! To present an offer to the education in The Netherlands we are in the process of establishing a guideline for medical libraries to support CATs within their institution. We will clarify the challenges and possibilities of the (new) workfield for medical libraries and their information specialists. We will share experiences from this development and also from workfloor CATs. We will point out the importance of talking to your educational staff, to the residents themselves and to the board and how to market your service for CATs. We will also describe and discuss with you the demands for the medical library. The resources it will need and especially the knowledge and the attitude the information specialist needs to successfully support CATs within the organization. The learning goals of this CEC are: - the background of the CAT and EBM - the organization of CATs in your hospital - the pro-active role of the library - strengthening your confidence, abilities - sharing CAT-experiences with other information specialists/clinical librarians/medical librarians At the end of this course you have learned how the medical library takes an important role in the EBM-process and guidance of CATs. You will have picked up lots of tips, tricks & expertise, which will make you take the crucial role within the CAT process!