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. 2025 Jan 14;113(1):9-23.
doi: 10.5195/jmla.2025.1965.

A scoping review of librarian involvement in competency-based medical education

John W Cyrus  1 , Laura Zeigen  2 , Molly Knapp  3 , Amy E Blevins  4 , Brandon Patterson  5
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A scoping review of librarian involvement in competency-based medical education

John W Cyrus et al. J Med Libr Assoc. .

Abstract

Objective: A scoping review was undertaken to understand the extent of literature on librarian involvement in competency-based medical education (CBME).

Methods: We followed Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA-ScR reporting guidelines. A search of peer-reviewed literature was conducted on December 31, 2022, in Medline, Embase, ERIC, CINAHL Complete, SCOPUS, LISS, LLIS, and LISTA. Studies were included if they described librarian involvement in the planning, delivery, or assessment of CBME in an LCME-accredited medical school and were published in English. Outcomes included characteristics of the inventions (duration, librarian role, content covered) and of the outcomes and measures (level on Kirkpatrick Model of Training Evaluation, direction of findings, measure used).

Results: Fifty studies were included of 11,051 screened: 46 empirical studies or program evaluations and four literature reviews. Studies were published in eight journals with two-thirds published after 2010. Duration of the intervention ranged from 30 minutes to a semester long. Librarians served as collaborators, leaders, curriculum designers, and evaluators. Studies primarily covered asking clinical questions and finding information and most often assessed reaction or learning outcomes.

Conclusions: A solid base of literature on librarian involvement in CBME exists; however, few studies measure user behavior or use validated outcomes measures. When librarians are communicating their value to stakeholders, having evidence for the contributions of librarians is essential. Existing publications may not capture the extent of work done in this area. Additional research is needed to quantify the impact of librarian involvement in competency-based medical education.

Keywords: CBME; Competency-Based Education; EBM; Evidence-Based Medicine; Instruction; Problem-based learning; case-based learning; curriculum; education; entrustable professional activities; learning; librarians; libraries; lifelong learning; self-regulated learning; training; undergraduate medical education.

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