Medical school graduates' retrospective evaluation of a clinical medical librarian program

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of a survey of sixty-six graduates of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine conducted in the spring of 1977. The graduates were questioned about their present library use behavior and their restrospective perceptions of the clinical medical librarian (CML) services which they received as medical students at UMKC. The results show that these young physicians, after regular association with other, more tradional medical library services, hold very positive impressions of the CML program. The graduates also typically credit the CML'S with helping them to learn to use library resources effectively. These retrospective perceptions of the CML match the short-term benefits reported in other studies of similar programs.