Mentoring for Collaboration: More Than Just Knowledge Skills

Objectives : To describe approaches to fostering soft skills and flexibility for successful collaboration via two case studies: (1) collaboration of pharmacogenetics information experts and librarians with cancer researchers to promote currency, scalability, and knowledge management practices for a web-based, tumor, genefocused cancer therapy decision support tool; and (2) integration with informatics teams and processes to promote evidence-based medicine in distributed outpatient settings.

Methods : Building on the foundation of an extensive training program, we have successfully embedded information specialists in high-priority, interdisciplinary initiatives, from rounding with clinical teams to support for personalized medicine. We have recruited and integrated personnel with pharmacogenetics and biomedical research expertise to provide knowledge for supporting these medical center efforts. While our staff training program equips all team members with a solid skill base for information services and knowledge management, successful collaboration requires development of soft skills such as political savvy, clear understanding of leadership goals, and the ability to quickly adapt in a changing landscape. Ongoing collaboration beyond pilot projects also requires cross-training, communication, and flexibility to maintain partnerships through personnel and priority changes. These skills require explicit teaching and mentorship as much or more than traditional information skills in order to form successful partnerships and grow future leaders.

Results : To create successful partnerships with clinical and research teams in the medical center, we have developed a strong information science and communication training program that emphasizes medical knowledge and research methods. Adding to a group of knowledgeable clinical librarians, we have integrated professionals with a variety of degrees in the biosciences (e.g., genetics, pharmacology). Our librarians have worked to coach these experts on information science skills, while they in turn have helped expand the librarians’ medical, research, and genetics knowledge. A variety of mentoring, modeling, and educational techniques also have been employed to foster the necessary skills for building successful collaborations. As a result of these efforts, our personnel are successfully involved in a wide range of projects including clinical rounding, order set development, federally funded systematic reviews, and other cross-disciplinary efforts to increase the practice of evidence-based medicine. Information specialists from a variety of professional backgrounds have become respected partners in an award-winning cancer genetics project and other cutting edge teams tackling personalized medicine and pharmacogenetics. By building our explicit and tacit knowledgebase and incorporating biosciences experts, our team is able to handle more than 800 complex evidence requests yearly, providing high-quality services to the medical center.

Conclusions : Cross-training between disciplines and development of tacit skills requires dedicated, time-consuming effort. Through an explicit commitment to developing soft skills, incorporating a variety of biosciences professionals into our team, and providing ongoing learning experiences, we have created successful partnerships to advance the goals of Vanderbilt Medical Center and foster a growing demand for the expertise of our Eskind Biomedical Library and Knowledge Management teams.