(via Julie Esparza, Louisiana State University Health – Shreveport)
Have you ever thought about pursuing the Consumer Health Information Specialization from the Medical Library Association, but you didn’t have the money to invest in classes, or the time to spend a half-day or a full-day taking classes to reach the goal?
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LA obtained funding from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, South Central Region, to create a special program to provide free education for anyone who might like to complete the Consumer Health Information Specialization. The goal is to provide completely online and short educational offerings for those who may not have time or money to take some classes that qualify for the Consumer Health Information Specialization. With this initiative, learners can obtain all the credit in eight months while taking either one or two classes a week (depending on the level of specialization they would like to achieve. Even if you do not want to pursue the formal specialization, the program offers an innovative progressive education (Discussions) on the general issues of consumer health for librarians, information professional and any others with an interest.
Here are a few of the Discussion topics.
- What consumer health library services are you ethically and legally able to provide? What must you report, what you cannot report, and what you cannot say.
- How can your personal beliefs affect your information interactions?
- How you can work with teachers or healthcare organizations in your community to promote consumer health services?
If you are interested in learning more about the educational initiative, go here to learn about the primary classes that will be offered by NNLM (all online) and see the full list of the Discussion (presentation) classes-with national leaders.
Feel free to contact me, at jespar@lsuhsc.edu, with any questions. Please encourage public librarians, schoolteachers and others across the country to take part in this specially organized educational opportunity! The one-to-two-hour sessions make it perfect for those with limited opportunity to leave their work to gain education. Those in Louisiana can attend the education and have the specialization fee waived if they follow the instructions given on the GeauxConsumerLA program website.