Developing Specialized Graduate Curricula for Health Information Professionals: Integrated Findings of a Scoping Review and an Employer Survey

Abstract

With the aim of informing specialized graduate curriculum development, this two-phase study seeks to identify and bridge gaps in expectation and preparation between and among employers of health information professionals (HIPs), aspiring HIPs, and library and information science (LIS) graduate curricula. Building upon a scoping review of emerging HIP professional roles, an online survey further explored what professional competencies and qualifications employers in various health information organizations expected or desired of entry-level HIPs. The integrated findings of these two phases revealed that the training that HIPs receive in LIS graduate programs may not accurately reflect employers’ priorities and expectations: While research and professional associations identified the same general skill sets as important, employers also valued competencies such as instructional experience, web skills, “soft” and interpersonal skills, and particular subsets of discipline-specific knowledge as well as a foundation in the complex professional contexts that characterize health-sciences workplaces. These results indicate ways in which LIS programs might develop, adapt, and expand specialized graduate curricula and dynamic professionalization opportunities for students in order to better align learning outcomes with professional core competencies and employer expectations, and to better prepare students for both the technical and interpersonal demands of the job field.