It is that time of the year again. A birthday. Birthday Celbrations. Also a time to reflect.
And the only word that comes to my mind is “Gratitude”
For all the learning that that I have had in my life
For all the family members I have
For all friends that I have around me – from my school, from my college, from the huge circle of health sciences – students, faculty and practitioners who have attended my lectures / workshops / webinars.
For all my “co mentees” who are with me in the Mentorship Program that I have the privilege to attend since 2022
Very importantly my colleagues!
Professionally, the biggest gratitude that I express would be for being able to combine my four professional “loves” – the love of Library Science, the love of the Health professions, the love of Teaching and the love of using Technology. That’s another Ikigai! I wonder how many people are blessed with this!
Today, I learnt something in my Mentor’s session
“If we Acknowledge that there IS a problem, we CAN fix it”
That is so true! Doctors have so often told me “It takes patients and their families time to acknowledge and accept a health condition. Once they do, treating them or caring for them is much easier”
Today I felt “If the healthcare profession acknowledged the Importance of correct literature searching and referencing, how much easier would QMed’s work be!”
Actually going beyond “acknowledging that it is important” – it is – Acknowledging that Literature Searching and Referencing are indepth skills that emerge from the discipline of Library and Information Sciences. And so – every institution needs to impart these skills in depth – acknowledging that they have a strong role in Academics, Research, Practice AND Policy making! Acknowledge the importance of having highly skilled librarians cum information specialists.
The day we acknowledge this – as my mentor says “Magic will happen”. I envisage the magic of Indian health sciences research output being high in the world.
Am I being “Idealistic?” Maybe. But that is far better than being pessimistic or fatalistic. And if all of us in the health sciences work together, we CAN do things! If we think we can, or if we think we cannot – we are right both ways. Let us think WE CAN!
#Acknowledging problems #Library Science #Information Sciences #Medical Librarians #Health Science Librarians #Fixing problems
