CHIS Spotlight: Melissa Rice

Posted by liaison on May 13th, 2024 Posted in: #CC/Academic List, Opportunity to participate

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NNLM Region 4 is highlighting Melissa Rice, a library and information sciences student and graduate assistant at the University of South Florida, for her accomplishment of receiving her Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS) certification. Below, Melissa shares a bit about herself and her experience in obtaining her CHIS certification through the Consumer Health for Library Students Program. 

1. Can you give us an elevator speech about your library career and future goals?

I came into the library and information sciences degree from working with an electronic health record vendor, so I worked in what I would call an information-adjacent role. I did a lot of versioning control, maintained a collection of standards, and consulted with groups on what they needed to know. When I left that field, I started volunteering with the Friends of the Lakewood Ranch Library organization and returned to school for a library degree. It seemed like a good way to take my experience, interests, and volunteer work and merge them into a new career. So that’s how I ended up in library school.

In terms of goals, I’m hopeful of working in either an academic medical college or a hospital library. That’s part of the reason why I wanted to pursue a CHIS certificate. If I go into an area with a patient education aspect or that is more focused on the consumers versus the physicians, I would have that background that I didn’t already have from my previous work. I wanted to grow some of that area of knowledge on the academic side that I didn’t have, and it just felt like a CHIS certification was a good way to do that.

2. How did you hear about the CHIS certification?

I heard about CHIS through MLA and NNLM. I was already taking NNLM classes to get credit toward a certificate, and I earned a CHIS Level 1 after taking continuing education classes at the Southern/South Central Chapters of the Medical Library Association Joint Annual Meeting. That gave me enough credits to apply for CHIS level 1 certification. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get a Level 2 certificate until I heard that two courses I took at USF would put me well over what I needed to qualify for the certification. When I finished the class, I went ahead and applied for the Level 2.

It would have probably taken me another year and a half to two years to complete all the credits I needed for level 2 if my professor hadn’t gotten the classes approved to offer CHIS, based on when the other MLA and NNLM classes were going to be available and how much credit was going to be offered.

How has your CHIS certification helped you in your current role or future career goals?

I’m doing fieldwork for a local hospital library that is not a consumer-facing hospital library. It is for the physicians and staff, but I feel like much of what I learned in classes for CHIS helps me think about how the research guides should look when I’m creating these for the physicians. Even though in that environment, they are the provider and not the consumer, when they go to this research guide to get information, they are like a consumer. Many of the concepts I learned, including how to present the information to users, have definitely played into how these guides are presented.

Do you have any advice for LIS/iSchool students looking to earn their CHIS certification?

I would say pursue it! Even if you end up where you’re not as consumer-facing in a career, you will still use a lot of the concepts. I would also tell them if their LIS classes aren’t already approved, I would encourage them to talk to their professors about at least looking into having the class offer CHIS. It was a huge benefit to all of the students because the class was worth the 24 CE credits needed for a certificate.

Plus, whether you’re going into a consumer health field or not, the certificate shows your commitment to general Health Sciences librarianship, your continual learning in that space, and your desire to grow within that space. I think it’s great for job-searching prospects.

Do you have any suggestions on how NNLM can improve students’ experience in earning or applying for their CHIS certification?

It was very straightforward, and I will say that anyone considering it should apply for the NNLM sponsorship. Mine was paid for both levels through the NNLM sponsorship, and I think that’s a great benefit that’s offered. Students don’t always have the flexibility of funds for things like that. I simply filled out the sponsorship application and got an immediate response that it’s been accepted. I also completed my CHIS application, and it was very simple.

If you want to learn more about the Consumer Health for Library Students Program, visit nnlm.gov or contact Sam Nunn at sam.nunn@utah.edu.