Medical Librarian Careers
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What Medical Librarians do:
A Medical Librarian is responsible for helping allied health professionals, physicians and researchers to stay current with new developments in their specialty areas.
Medical Librarians can work as part of the Hospital Management Team, in Universities or Pharmaceutical Companies.
The main duties of a Medical Librarian include:
- Providing information regarding clinical trials, medical treatments and standard procedures to healthcare professionals
- Keeping healthcare professionals up to date with developments
- Researching and lecturing in medical schools
- Compiling information for Informatics and Health Information Systems
- Working closely with patients and individuals who are researching health information
- Training healthcare providers on accessing information, and contributing their expertise to health information systems.
Education & Qualifications:
Medical Librarians should have a strong background in science. To become a Medical Librarian you must complete a Master of Library and Information Science degree from a school accredited by the American Library Association (ALA).
Many Medical Librarians continue to study for Ph.D's as more senior positions require a doctorate as a perquisite. Medical Librarians can complete continuing education and training to stay up to date in their field. Some Medical Librarians also have doctor of medicine degrees, many stay in education throughout their careers, and even into retirement.
Salary & Job Prospects:
Salaries for Medical Librarians vary greatly depending on qualifications, location of the job, positions held and experience gained. Entry level positions can start at $40,000 but can rise to over $160,000 for more senior positions. The job prospects are good, especially for informationists, a new role for medical librarians which is a cross between information science and clinical/biomedical science.
Below is a list of some of the various types of allied health careers / professions: