Aidy Weeks, MSLIS, AHIP
GME Liaison Librarian & Collections Manager
Health Sciences Library
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Introduction

LWW Health Library for Clerkship/Clinical Rotations is a collection of core titles supporting medical students for the preparation and duration of their clerkships typically taking place during their third year of medical school. This collection is one of several that make up the LWW Health Library collection series published by Wolters Kluwer.

Content

The LWW Health Library for Clerkship/Clinical Rotations collection consists of six clinical specialty areas and a General Reference/Exam Prep collection. The specialties are listed as “rotations” and include: Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Surgery. In all, the collection consists of 62 titles. The collection does share a small overlap of titles between Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and General Reference/Exam Prep as these areas share similar primary textbooks. The Family Medicine rotation consists of seven ebooks including Primary Care Medicine: Office Evaluation and Management of the Adult Patient, 7th edition, Goroll & Mulley (Wolters Kluwer, 2014). The Internal Medicine rotation consists of 14 ebooks including The Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics, 36th edition, Crees et al. (Wolters Kluwer, 2020) and The Washington Manual Internship Survival Guide, 5th edition, Ciesielski and De Fer (Wolters Kluwer, 2019). The OB/GYN rotation consists of seven ebooks including Beckmann and Ling’s Obstetrics and Gynecology, 8th edition, Casanova et al. (Wolters Kluwer, 2019). The Pediatrics rotation consists of nine ebooks including Pediatrics for Medical Students, 3rd edition, Bernstein and Shelov (Wolters Kluwer, 2012). The Psychiatry rotation consists of seven ebooks including Kaplan & Sadock’s Pocket Handbook of Clinical Psychiatry, 6th edition, Sadock et al. (Wolters Kluwer, 2019). The Surgery rotation consists of 11 ebooks including Essentials of General Surgery and Surgical Specialties, 6th edition, Lawrence (Wolters Kluwer, 2019). The General Reference/Exam Prep collection consists of 15 ebooks related to study and board review resources, as well as a primer text on understanding electrocardiograms, The Only EKG Book You’ll Ever Need, 9th edition, Thaler (Wolters Kluwer, 2019). Beyond ebook titles, the LWW Health Library for Clerkship/Clinical Rotations collection also provides a self-assessment bank of over 4,700 Q&A prompts and over 150 case studies [1].

Features and Functionality

Homepage & Navigation

The homepage for LWW Health Library for Clerkship/Clinical Rotations provides one-click access to all content including textbooks, self-assessments, and case studies. A link for these resources can be found on the site’s top navigation bar. In addition, the name of the collection is prominently displayed across this same navigation bar making it easy for users to know which collection they’re viewing. Placing the cursor over the collection’s name will display additional collections if also purchased or subscribed to by the institution. Next to the collection’s name is a link titled “All Rotations,” which, when selected, provides a drop-down menu of all six clinical specialties. Note, selecting this option will not take users to the books; rather, it acts to filter the entire collection. When selecting one of the specialties, users are directed back to the same homepage. In order to view books specific to that specialty, users will need to select “Text” from the navigation bar. To reset the homepage, users will need to select the name of the main collection: “Clerkship/Clinical Rotations.” Beneath the navigation bar are announcements and a box linking to options for signing in with a personal account. For multiple ways to access content, the site offers the same navigational links seen across the navigation bar prominently displayed on the landing page. The six clinical specialties are listed in two rows across the top center of the homepage. This is divided by a large search box that provides users the option to conduct basic and advanced searches across the full text of all ebooks in the collection. Beneath the search box is the option to browse by text, self-assessment questions, and case studies.

Search Features

A benefit to the search functionality of the LWW Health Library for Clerkship/Clinical Rotations collection is the ability to conduct full-text searching across all titles. Basic searching allows users to enter keywords or phrases (semantic search) to discover relevant results from any of the ebooks in the collection. Advanced search allows users to limit their searches by publication title, as well as conduct author and subject searches. Search results lists can also be narrowed down through the use of faceted searching on the left side of the screen. Faceted search options include rotation, subject, content, media, text, and tags.

Ebook Features

The LWW Health Library for Clerkship/Clinical Rotations collection offers the option to read, listen, and share book chapter content outside the platform. Each ebook chapter offers the option to listen to an audio recording of the text by selecting the “Listen” icon provided at the beginning of each section. Book chapters can also be downloaded as PDFs for offline use and shared with others by email for free for 72 hours.

My Health Library Account

Creating a My Health Library account takes only a few minutes and requires a valid email address, password, full name, and reviewing the terms of service agreement. Once a personal account is created, users have the ability to modify their profile, create favorites, and track progress on self-assessments. The LWW Health Library recently added the option to bookmark books, chapters, figures, and tables from any text within the collection.

Business Model

The LWW Health Library for Clerkship/Clinical Rotations collection is available to academic medical libraries that support undergraduate medical programs; however, some of the books may be applicable to academic and hospital libraries supporting graduate medical education programs as introductory resources to interns. This collection is not currently available as a one-time purchase. It is available to libraries under a subscription model as a continuing resource. The benefit of this feature is that collection development librarians do not need to pay for newer editions of existing ebooks. Books are updated as new editions are available and older editions can be accessed through the text archives link listed in the “Text” section of the site. Subscription and licensing options, multi-year agreements, pricing factors, and authentication methods are similar to other LWW Health Library collections reviewed by Doody contributors [2].

Breakthroughs

The LWW Health Library for Clerkship/Clinical Rotations collection offers a good selection of Wolters Kluwer titles that introduce medical students to important clinical specialties encountered during their clerkships and rotations. The collection offers content from six different specialties as well as exam/board review resources. As collections librarians look for ways to support their medical school through the addition of online resources amid measures to limit in-person activities during a global pandemic, this collection serves to support continued online learning efforts. I recommend the LWW Health Library for Clerkship/Clinical Rotations collection as an integral resource to any collection focused on medical education. 

References

1. Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. (2020). Trusted Content for Clerkship. LWW Health Library. https://lwwhealthlibrary.com/clerkship
2. McCutcheon, C. (2020, Feb 25). A Review of LWW Health Library: Exercise Science and ACSM Certification Suite. Doody’s Collection Development Monthly. http://dcdm.doody.com/2020/02/a-review-of-lww-health-library-exercise-science-and-acsm-certification-suite/