Introducing a health information literacy competencies map: connecting the Association of American Medical Colleges Core Entrustable Professional Activities and Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Common Program Requirements to the Association of College & Research Libraries Framework

Abstract

Background: Librarians teach evidence-based medicine (EBM) and information-seeking principles in undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate medical education. These curricula are informed by medical education standards, medical education competencies, information literacy frameworks, and background literature on EBM and teaching. As this multidimensional body of knowledge evolves, librarians must adapt their teaching and involvement with medical education. Identifying explicit connections between the information literacy discipline and the field of medical education requires ongoing attention to multiple guideposts but offers the potential to leverage information literacy skills in the larger health sciences education sphere. Methods: A subgroup of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries Competency-Based Medical Education Task Force cross-referenced medical education documents (Core Entrustable Professional Activities and 2017–2018 Liaison Committee on Medical Education Functions and Structures of a Medical School) with the Association of College & Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education using nominal group technique. Results: In addition to serving as a vocabulary, the map can also be used to identify gaps between and opportunities for enhancing the scholarly expectations of undergraduate and graduate medical education standards and the building blocks of information literacy education. This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.

Keywords

• information literacy
• medical education
• competency-based education