Medical Librarian Career Plan

Medical librarians have a master’s level education. Some people make the decision to enter the field after they already have a bachelor’s degree in hand. If you know early on, though, that you want to pursue the career, you may save yourself some steps along the way.

1. Take a solid college preparatory curriculum. Make sure you exit high school prepared for college level work in English, science, and math. Consider taking anatomy and physiology and computer sciences. Also develop your research skills.

2. Seek out experiences that will confirm your career choice and begin to build your resume. You may want to attend health careers camp – some camps are absolutely free. The Medical Library Association recommends that you volunteer at a hospital so that you can interact with different health professionals. (If you do become a medical librarian, chances are good that you’ll be interacting with health professionals from a variety of fields.)

3. Pick a good school and decide on an undergraduate major. You have choices, but you’ll want to make sure that you’re rounding out your transcript with the art and science prerequisites you’ll need.

   Featured Programs:

   Sponsored School(s)

   

   Purdue Global

   Featured Program: Online programs at the Certificate (Medical Assisting, Medical Billing & Coding), Associate's (Fire Science and many others), Bachelor's (Fires Science, Fire and Emergency Management, Health & Wellness, Nutrition, Health Care Administration, Health Information Management, Psychology, Legal Studies, and more)

   Request Info

   

   Grand Canyon University

   Featured Program: Online Degrees in Nursing & Health Care

   Request Info

   

   Southern New Hampshire University

   Featured Program: Various Degrees in Nursing & Health Care

   Request Info

4. Select one or more graduate programs that interest you, and put together a stellar application packet. Programs should be accredited by the American Library Association.

5. Begin looking for career opportunities and professional connections while in graduate school. You might look for a job at your college library. You might also seek out scholarship and publication opportunities. You don’t have to have your degree completed to have an article published in a professional journal. If you can produce high caliber writing, you might want to look into this option.

6. It’s time to secure that first position as medical librarian. Positions may go by a variety of names: for example digital archivist or electronic resources coordinator. There are plenty of online job boards, but professional connections can help you break into the field sooner. You can request a mentor from the Medical Library Association. In fact, there are several different categories of mentorship. You will need to be a member of the organization in order to request this service.

Personality Traits: Librarians have a reputation for being bookish, but they’re also savvy communicators.