A.Curricular/Research/Programmatic Needs
The primary purpose of the collection is to supply medical literature to support the educational, teaching, research, and clinical practice needs of faculty and students in the Colleges of Human Medicine (CHM) and Osteopathic Medicine (COM). The level of support is through the M.D./D.O. and/or Ph.D. levels including the post-Doctoral level. CHM AND COM are both community-based medical schools where clinical practice, undergraduate and graduate medical education, and research takes place across the state of Michigan at clinical campuses and through affiliations with local hospitals, physicians, and other health care providers. The majority of funds are allocated to online subscription purchases including many large packages of journals, ebooks, and ‘Big Deals’ to support distributed medical education needs and give equitable and comparable access to library resources regardless of where a student or faculty member is located. Both Colleges have expanded their Residency offerings into new areas of graduate medical education specialties. There are several residencies that are joint ventures between the two colleges. In 2022 COM started a physicians assistant program that the medical collection also supports.
An ancillary purpose is to support the educational, teaching, research, and clinical practice needs of the other health science schools including the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Nursing, special programs offered in the Colleges, and in those departments with which the Colleges have collaborative or joint programs. These include but are not limited to the Michigan State University Center for Bioethics and Social Justice, Institute for Health Policy, Public Health, and many of the basic Biomedical sciences (see the Biological/Biomedical Sciences policy). Parts of the collection are also heavily used by undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty/staff from allied health and other disciplines.
B. History of the Collection
The print medical collection originated when the Veterinary College was established in the early 1900's and expanded with the addition of the Schools of Medical Technology and Nursing. A major impetus was the first CHM entering class (1966 - two-year program) followed in 1969 by the establishment of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and a full four-year CHM program in 1971. The Land Grant philosophy has driven the direction of MSU's innovative community-based medical curricula which was designed to meet the State's unmet needs with an approach different from that of Michigan's two existing medical schools. The existing osteopathic collection builds upon a gift from Donald Seihl, D.O.
C. Existing Strengths and Weaknesses
Primary care has traditionally been a major focus of both Colleges, but all clinical specialities are reflected by the collection and collected at a high level. The biopsychosocial concept of medicine is also of major consideration so the social and behavioral sciences, particularly psychiatry, also constitute a major cornerstone of the collection. We do not collect with concerted intensity in areas that do not have a school, college, or program at MSU. This includes pharmacy/PharmD-focused works, dentistry, and optometry.