Research and Education Librarians at Rowland Medical Library at the University of Mississippi Medical Center designed an engaging 90-minute instruction session for middle school students participating in a summer enrichment program. Librarians adapted instruction strategies to effectively reach and connect with a younger, nontraditional audience. Through active learning activities, group discussion, and a scavenger hunt activity, students learned about academic health sciences libraries and strengthened information evaluation skills.

In July 2025, Therapeutic Research Center’s Healthcare launched a newly designed NatMed Pro database that offers a contemporary and streamlined webpage layout and more expedient load times. The new landing page is visually appealing due to its refreshed tab bar and graphics. This column will present a sample search in the improved search interface as well as explore some of the new and redesigned features which create a more intuitive user experience.

Context Bibliometric analysis is a method for analyzing the existing literature of a specific research area. Because it provides information about current research trends, the analysis can highlight attributes of frequently cited articles and identify areas for future research. To our knowledge, no such investigation has been conducted for osteopathic medical education. Objective To conduct a bibliometric analysis of the 100 top-cited articles in osteopathic medical education to identify characteristics of the articles and to explore the thematic structure and connections among common topics. Methods In October 2020, the Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection was searched for osteopathic medical education articles authored by faculty associated with U.S. colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs). Search results included articles from 1975 to the present, based on the available dates of the indexes. Only articles in English were included in the search. Articles were identified using a three-stage search strategy and group consensus. Once identified, the following bibliometric characteristics were collected: journal name, journal impact factor, year of publication, article title, medical education research topic, authors, number of citations, and the authors’ COM affiliation. Articles were then hand searched in several non-indexed osteopathic-related journals, collecting the same data and using Google Scholar for the number of citations. The 100 top-cited articles were extracted and included in our analysis. Bibliometric metrics were calculated and summarized to assess performance and impact. Science mapping by topics was conducted to assess article contents. Specifically, network analysis and clustering were used to explore the structure and relationship of topics covered in the articles. Results Our WOS search identified 193,381 records. The highest 50,000 top-cited results were downloaded for screening, and an additional 89 records were identified from journal website searches. After initial screening and removal of duplicates, the title and abstract of 134 records were independently screened by each team member. Of those, 28 were excluded because they were not a U.S. study, authored by a non-COM author, or outside our study scope; six did not meet our exclusion criteria. The top-cited article was a systematic review that was cited 107 times. The journal with the most top-cited articles (28) was Academic Medicine, but BMC Medical Education had the highest number of citations per article (37.8). The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine tied for the highest number (15) of top-cited articles, but Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine had the highest number of citations per article (39.8). Network analysis and clustering identified four thematic groupings: humanistic and whole-person care; clinical science and training; educational technology; and health-care systems. The topics within each cluster were cohesive, yet clusters also communicated with each other. Conclusion Results of the current study provided valuable information about the most frequent osteopathic medical education topics published by authors affiliated with COMs and suggested that journal impact factor was not a direct contributor to number of citations per article. The cluster analysis also provided insight about interconnected topics in osteopathic medical education. Results from this bibliometric analysis may be useful to inform future research, encourage collaboration, and provide guidance for advancing osteopathic medical education research in the United States.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that hiring managers and hiring committees are seeing small numbers of applicants for vacancies at their health sciences libraries, making recruitment difficult. Several challenges are often cited for this, but little has been said about geographic considerations. Our objective was to analyze early career health sciences job postings in the United States for one year, and identify any geographic disparities relevant to recruitment. We explored medical and health science librarian job postings from MLA’s website, ALA’s joblist, medlib-l, and caucus listservs, which were compiled from January to December 2023. Early career postings were determined based on predefined criteria. Based on the medical/health science librarian job postings from 2023, there were 216 total postings including 105 early career positions (requiring one year or less of experience), reflecting approximately 49% of all job postings during this period. A plurality of early career postings (27%) were located in the Mid-Atlantic region while the fewest (5%) were from the Mountain West. Researchers analyzed the early career postings finding that instruction (67%) and reference (58%) duties were most prominent. Geography is important, as a new LIS graduate living in a region with fewer opportunities may be forced to move in order to obtain a medical library position, and optimal approaches to recruitment will vary depending on the employer’s location. As this highlights just one aspect of the challenge, there are further research directions that may be taken from this analysis.

Health sciences librarians play a critical role in supporting evidence synthesis, mostly systematic and scoping reviews. This paper reflects on the author’s decade of evidence synthesis services (2015–2025). During this time, the author provided extensive support to the health sciences researchers, faculty, students, and staff at a large research university through consultation and collaboration on systematic and scoping reviews. The author discusses the roles undertaken, practice guidelines adhered to, information sources frequently searched, SR tools utilized, challenges encountered, and lessons learned throughout the experiences. The paper concludes with some recommendations for enhancing systematic review services in health sciences libraries.

MedPix is a free, open-access, online database developed by the National Library of Medicine that houses a vast collection of over 59,000 medical images, 12,000 patient cases, and 9,000 clinical topics. Designed to support both teaching and self-directed learning, the platform serves a diverse audience including physicians, medical students, educators, and researchers. MedPix offers robust search capabilities as well as case-based learning tools that support Continuing Medical Education.

Primary care providers and medical students often receive limited dermatologic education, leading to delayed diagnosis and treatment for patients with cutaneous conditions. Additionally, dermatology education has historically focused on light skin, neglecting skin of color, which exacerbates diagnostic delays and treatment disparities. The University of Utah’s Eccles Health Sciences Library and Department of Dermatology, along with Oregon Health & Science University, developed Utah Dermatology Education Resources & Modules (UtahDERM) to address these educational gaps. UtahDERM features a custom-built slide-viewer platform with clinical dermatology images, diagnoses, clinical characteristics, and textbook references, along with a quick reference tool for core dermatology diagnoses.