In 1860, William Cullen Bryant and other civic leaders in New York City founded the New York Homeopathic Medical College in the building above, located at Third Avenue and 20th Street. The college moved several times in Manhattan, the most recent location being Fifth Avenue and 106th Street, where it was known as the New York Medical College, Flower Hospital and Fifth Avenue Hospital, before moving to Westchester.
In 1972, New York Medical College relocated to Valhalla in scenic Westchester County. The library moved to Westchester as well, merging with the collections of the Westchester Academy of Medicine. Nearly four decades later, in 2011, NYMC joined the Touro College and University System.
NYMC is comprised of three schools: the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, and the School of Health Sciences and Practice. We have more than 1,400 students, 800 residents and fellows, and 2,700 faculty members.
The Health Sciences Library serves the information and research needs of all three schools. We offer top-notch databases, such as AccessMedicine, ClinicalKey, OvidSP, Web of Science, and USMLE Easy. Whenever possible, we look to share resources with Touro libraries. For example, we share ebrary, Ebscohost eBook Collection, Primal Pictures, and Lexicomp with one or more Touro libraries.
In addition to general reference services, HSL librarians offer systematic review, literature search, and Writing Center services. We teach classes on PubMed searching, how to use citation management software (RefWorks, EndNote), writing your curriculum vitae, thesis prep, and others. We travel to a number of affiliated hospitals in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to teach library instruction classes, and the library is integrated into the medical school curriculum via the evidence based medicine curricular theme.
HSL librarians are each assigned to multiple NYMC departments as liaisons. This gives librarians the opportunity to cultivate close ties with his or her departments and allows the HSL to serve the NYMC community more efficiently.
Since 2012, Edward Halperin, M.D., M.A., has been the Chancellor and CEO of NYMC. His passion for the study of the history of medicine is inspiring, and the HSL has hosted or created numerous historical exhibits. For example, the picture above shows an archival collection curated by Jay Tartell, M.D. ‘82; this collection is devoted to the history of NYMC and its famous founder, William Cullen Bryant. Also displayed in the photo is Dr. Tartell’s donated historic NYMC prize microscope collection. These beautiful engraved microscopes were annually awarded to top medical students.
During the summer of 2015, the HSL underwent an exciting renovation. We completed a large weeding project that provided additional study space. Shelving was dismantled, carpeting was installed, and tables and chairs were purchased to give the library a fresh new look. In the coming months we plan to renovate our computer lab as well. The computer lab is being revisioned as a multi-purpose collaborative learning space with office hours for help desk staff from IT.
The HSL recently received an NN/LM technology grant that we have used to purchase a ScannX scanner. This high-tech scanner will help our Access Services librarians create e-course reserves and scan articles for document delivery and ILL. Also coming soon is a 3D printer which will further upgrade our technology infrastructure and provide an opportunity for students to experiment.
The Health Sciences Library at New York Medical College is proud to be part of the Touro College and University System. We truly value our Touro Library colleagues and hope to collaborate with you in research, resources, and outreach.
For more about the NYCM Health Sciences Library, visit their website at http://library.nymc.edu/.
Contributed by: Jacob Nunnally, Content Management Librarian, New York Medical College Health Sciences Library
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