Summary
With new medical and scientific knowledge coming to light each day, effective medical education has to prepare future physicians to practice and learn in an ever-changing clinical environment. The curriculum of any medical school has to be competency-based, enabling students to acquire both core and professional competencies as well as knowledge and skills for evidence-based decisions, effective problem solving and self-directed lifelong learning. A well designed program of information literacy enables students to master the skills of finding and evaluating information resources. It is an important component in the development of critical thinking, logical inquiry and decision making. The Central Medical Library (CML), affiliated to the School of Medicine of the University of Zagreb, participates in all educational programs of its parent institution, developing different teaching modules aimed at acquiring skills in gathering and organization of medical information.

As a part of the graduate programme, CML participates in the mandatory course Introduction to Research in Medicine, in the elective course Importance of Finding Best Evidence, and in the mandatory course Principles of Evidence Based Medicine in the English track program. The course Introduction to Research in Medicine is the most comprehensive, vertically organized (2nd and 5th year) in order to correspond the students’ ability to comprehend the research methods in medicine, data analysis and publishing of study results. CML’s modules in this course are aimed at introducing students to the characteristics of medical literature, methods of information dissemination, effective searching techniques, critical appraisal and systematic organization of information. Other CML’s graduate courses familiarize the students with the principles and practices of evidence-based medicine.

In the PhD programme, both in English and in Croatian, CML participates in the course Structure, Methodology and Functioning of Scientific Work. Librarians from CML instruct the students on the modalities of critical appraisal of scientific papers and the importance of different bibliometric indicators. Through practical exercises in computer classrooms, students develop skills in searching bibliographic and citation databases and other credible sources of medical information.

CML recognizes that the evaluation of educational impact is an important part of every teaching programme, and participates in different appraisal activities. Recent evaluations conducted at the School of Medicine of the University of Zagreb showed that students initially have little interest for the information literacy topics. However, after the course, majority of students consider that it should be a mandatory part of the curriculum. Students especially appreciate the practical exercises, and some of them declared that the course encouraged them on taking more serious and thorough approach in searching and reading the literature, as well as in the performance of their scientific work.

Since information literacy is an essential requirement for students’ future professional excellence and lifelong learning, CML has full support of its parent institution in providing medical students with the skills and knowledge needed for effective identification, obtaining and evaluation of information, as well as their usage in an ethical and appropriate manner.

Keywords:
information literacy, medical education, medical schools, medical information, medical students, physicians, medical libraries, academic libraries, teaching methods, teaching evaluation

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