Christina Seeger, CPhT, MLS, AHIP
Medical Librarian, Assistant Clinical Professor
Sam Houston State University
Newton Gresham Library/College of Osteopathic Medicine 

Where do you currently work, and what is your position?  

I am the embedded Medical Librarian at the College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM), located 30 miles from the University’s main campus. In my role, I provide all reference, instruction, collection development, and research support for COM stakeholders, and serve as liaison between the university library and the COM. 

Where and when did you start in health sciences librarianship? What brought you to the profession?   

I came into librarianship after careers as a pharmacy technician and then a technician educator. Shortly after graduating with a Master of Library Science from Emporia State University’s Oregon cohort, I took a fellowship position using my background to build the collections and services for a new College of Pharmacy in Texas. I then had the opportunity to put that experience to work building another new pharmacy program, and after 15 years as a pharmacy librarian, I transitioned to a young College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2022.  

Share two of the most important issues facing the profession today and why they’re important to address. 

Librarians have evolved from gatekeepers of collections to facilitators of information access and knowledge management, and with that comes a need to embrace new skills and technologies while facing budget constraints and changes to the publishing landscape. It can be challenging to stay abreast of and nimbly provide the evolving tools and training users need. That said, critical appraisal has always been an important skill to teach, but in the current climate of misinformation, disappearing or changing resources, and the proliferation of generative AI, it is imperative. The sheer volume of health-related research being published contributes to information overload, making it hard to distinguish credible evidence-based, and directly relevant information for patient care or research. Clinicians and researchers need access to reliable, evidence-based information to make informed decisions, and an important role of the librarian is to help ensure they know how to critically evaluate information, no matter the source. 

What aspects of your work keep you most professionally motivated? 

The privilege of helping to build the next generation of much-needed healthcare providers keeps me in the field.  

Why have you selected for the last six editions of Doody’s Core Titles? 

As a builder of health sciences collections, I appreciate the vetted crowd-sourced nature of Doody’s Core Titles. Using it allows me to provide a solid foundation to build upon while getting to know the curriculum and unique stakeholder needs of the program. As a now seasoned librarian, I appreciate the opportunity to look at the collection each year to keep my collection current, give back to the community that helped me learn, and pay it forward to the next generation. 

Editor’s note: This month, we are celebrating Christina Seeger, who, in addition to serving as a Librarian Selector for Doody’s Core Titles since 2020, was one of four Selectors to inaugurate the Osteopathic Medicine specialty on DCT in 2025. Thank you, Christina!