





































REFLECTION 
 

 

 

Hypothesis 
Vol. 31 No. 1 

Fall/Winter 2019 

A Year in Review: MLA-RTI Fellow Reflection 
 
Margaret Hoogland, MLS, AHIP 
Assistant Professor, Clinical Medical Librarian 
Mulford Health Sciences Library 
University of Toledo 
Toledo, OH 

 
The Medical Library Association-Research Training Institute (MLA-RTI) is an 

opportunity for librarians to get hands-on experience and mentoring from faculty experts 
on how to design, execute, present, and publish the results of a one-year research 
project. The MLA-RTI program director, Susan Lessick, worked with five faculty 
members (Sally Gore, Lori Kloda, Mark MacEachern, Jodi Phelps, and Emily Vardell) to 
design pre-institute online training modules, a five day in-person training, and a 
mentoring structure for the projects that Fellows design during the fellowship year. 

 
In early December, MLA-RTI applicants submitted a brief biography describing 

their research experience, a study proposal, proposed research project timeline, letter of 
intent, and a letter of support from the Fellows’ library. Participants in the MLA-RTI can 
request financial assistance and most of the 2018 MLA-RTI Fellows received financial 
assistance. In March 2018, I received an email inviting me to be a member of the 
inaugural cohort of the Medical Library Association-Research Training Institute (MLA-
RTI). After completing the pre-institute training, I arrived for the in-person training, eager 
to learn and ready to adjust my proposed MLA-RTI project. 
 
At MLA-RTI In-Person Training 
 

In general, I found accepting and providing feedback during the in-person training 
to be challenging. It meant keeping my mind open to comments, feedback, and 
criticism. I also found, when providing feedback or criticism to others, it was best to be 
constructive (e.g., “I find this confusing”, “have you considered?”) and candid (i.e., “I 
really like this”). If authors located and stated a quote that I found interesting and 
pertinent, I might respond, “Great quote!” 

 
  I arrived expecting to be challenged and to get guidance on how to improve my 
project; however, it quickly became clear that I was a Fellow and this was my project. I 
had no list of instructions or bullet points on how to proceed and, if I had questions or 
concerns, it was my job to approach other Fellows and faculty members to get answers. 
Upon reaching this conclusion, I used my 30-minute mentor session and discussions 
with Fellows and experienced faculty members, to expand my knowledge and improve 
my project. Following this in-person training, the responsibility of solving issues and 
completing the project in one year rested completely on me.  
 
 
 
  



REFLECTION 
 

 

 

Hypothesis 
Vol. 31 No. 1 

Fall/Winter 2019 

During MLA-RTI Fellowship Year 
 

Each MLA-RTI faculty member had mentor groups and four mentees. Mentor 
groups and mentees were pre-assigned based on project if possible. For example, if a 
Fellow was doing a qualitative study, they might be paired with Emily Vardell. If working 
on a survey project, they might be paired with Jodi Philbrick. My MLA-RTI Mentor, Mark 
MacEachern, established a monthly check-in opportunity that I found to be essential. 
We primarily communicated via email with me describing, in 3-8 sentences, what I had 
done and what I hoped to do in the upcoming month. Quarterly reports were also used 
to keep a Fellow’s project moving forward and to keep the MLA-RTI Program Director, 
Susan Lessick, and the assigned mentor apprised of how the project was progressing. 
In each report, Fellows describe issues with the project, collaborations, and outcomes 
from participating in the MLA-RTI. 

 
One problematic issue I faced was including interviews in my MLA-RTI project. I 

had no prior experience with conducting interviews for a study and when it came to 
analyzing the transcripts, I spent about three months deciding how to organize the 
information from the interview and trying to determine what form of analysis to use. I 
contacted my assigned mentor for ideas, but I found a conversation with the 
Educational, Research, and Measurement Program Director at the University of Toledo 
to be most helpful. After consulting a handbook on qualitative research, I had a plan and 
could move forward with analyzing my data. Figuring out how to analyze the data, and 
recognizing that I should have structured interview questions differently, proved to be 
the most challenging aspect of my MLA-RTI project. 

 
As part of the MLA-RTI, all Fellows participate in the MLA-RTI Session at the 

MLA Annual Business Meeting and the Conference Poster Presentation. I confirmed my 
MLA Annual Business Meeting and Conference attendance early in January and 
received additional instructions in subsequent months on how to proceed. I also gave a 
Lightning Round presentation on my MLA-RTI project. Several of the MLA-RTI fellows 
also presented posters. Quite a few Fellows could not attend due to conflicting meetings 
and delayed providing a final report until the MLA-RTI session at MLA in 2020.  
  
Unanticipated (but Positive!) Developments due to MLA-RTI Participation 
 

In January 2017, I designed a session with first year medical students that 
incorporated use of medical information tools, such as DynaMed, UpToDate, Epocrates, 
and VisualDx. I was able to teach the session in both Fall 2017 and Fall 2018 and my 
project investigated how the students discover and use these medical information tools. 
My study highlighted positive changes resulting from instituting the new curriculum in 
Fall 2017. As a result, students are now approaching me with ideas for how the library 
can improve the student experience. Additionally, after showing my MLA-RTI project 
survey results to my faculty and administration, they urged me to write-up and publish 
the results of my MLA-RTI project. 

 



REFLECTION 
 

 

 

Hypothesis 
Vol. 31 No. 1 

Fall/Winter 2019 

As a result of my MLA-RTI project, I now have a rapport with key members of the 
preclinical curriculum. In Fall 2019, these faculty members agreed to let me meet with 
smaller groups of students for 15-and-30-minute sessions, which they can schedule in 
the Fall. The timing of these sessions is more applicable to when students could use the 
knowledge of how to search the literature and evaluate the study design, results, and 
publication types of articles. I am becoming the go-to librarian for students, faculty, and 
staff in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences and I am less hesitant to discuss 
potential grant and research ideas with faculty members. I would not be comfortable 
doing either of these, if I had not participated in the Medical Library Association-
Research Training Institute experience. I strongly encourage everyone to give research 
a try and apply for a future MLA-RTI! 
 
Acknowledgements  
 

I thank the MLA Research Training Institute for its training, support, and 
encouragement to carry out this research. This project was made possible in part by the 
Institute of Museum and Library Services (RE-95-17-0025-17). 
  
 


