Authors

1 Medical Education Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

2 Integrative Functional Gastroenterology Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Clinical informationist (CI) is one of the current trends in the field of medical librarianship and
information science. CIs are members of clinical care teams, and their main duty is to fill the gap in
the information needs of health‑care workers and patients using information sources. They need an
official and standard education. This study aims to identify the educational goals and needs of CIs.
To this end, a scoping review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Item for Systematic
Reviews and Meta‑analyses guidelines. The ISI Web of Science, Scopus, Proquest (MEDLINE),
Science Direct, Emerald, ERIC, Cochrane, and Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts
were searched. The Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries was
hand searched for relevant studies. A total of 1026 studies were extracted, and 38 studies were
selected for the final review. The review resulted in identifying 18 goals in cognitive, emotional, and
psychomotor areas. Furthermore, the educational needs were identified in eight educational needs
including research method and statistics, education, medical knowledge, information and librarianship
science, clinical environment knowledge, evidence‑based knowledge, information technologies and
systems, management, and leadership. Although part of these educational needs can be met through
general medical librarianship and information science education, further specialized education for
CIs requires specific aims and curriculum. Thus, the results of this study can be the basis for future
studies regarding the competencies of CI in order to provide a more precise and detailed curriculum
based on these educational needs.

Keywords

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