EHRs & Woods Hole: What happens when I think on the bus

Four months ago I attended the Librarians and the EHR: Envisioning the Future continuing education event by our local Medical Library Association (MLA) chapter, PNC/MLA, with a fair amount of guilt. The only reason I was able to go was because I took the place of a colleague who was seriously ill and that is never a cause for joy. I should have shared my 5 pages of notes from the EHR CE long ago, they serve as a brief guide to the presentation audio files although I had to take a phone call in the middle of one of them so there's a gap of information somewhere.

It was there that I learned about the Woods Hole bioinformatics program, although with total bafflement at first: it was one of those things that everyone else already seemed to already know about and I didn't. On the bus home it occurred to me that maybe I should apply and create an online class teaching more about medical librarians' involvement with electronic medical records (EMRs) because I couldn't be the only one who didn't know about the Woods Hole program. If I am, it's ok to laugh at me now that I'm going there in May.

My goal is to share the value from the experience as much as possible because I don't want to be an information silo. I know I can't promise blogging from there beyond a picture a day due to the sheer volume of information we'll be going through. I have since heard from many medical librarians who have been to Woods Hole and heard of several others. I'm curious: What has what you have learned there done for you, your organization, etc.? Are we already collaborating on this as part of MLA advocacy and I've missed the boat entirely? Thank goodness Rachel shared the tip about no elevators there so I only pack what I can haul up the stairs myself!