Maximum Student Enrollment	Other UNC SILS Requirements
Duration of Program	Mentors
Registration for Classes	Thesis Requirements
Transfer of Credit	Continuity Ambulatory Care Experience (Duke)
Tuition and Fees	Supervised Field Experience
Application Process	Degree Requirements

Maximum Student Enrollment

Enrollment per medical school class: 2

Maximum number of students simultaneously enrolled in the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) program: 4

Duration of Program

Two years for MSLS or MSIS. Coursework for the program may be completed in less time (3 semesters and summer courses), but the expectation is that the students will complete the program and their research project within two years and will return to their fourth year medical school program by August, two years after starting the MSLS or MSIS.

Registration for Classes

Students will follow the existing registration procedures at both schools. Students must register with Duke University School of Medicine for their third-year experience. In addition they must follow UNC SILS' registration process for enrolling in their masters courses.

Transfer of Credit

Credit transfers: None

There are no relevant courses within either program that would meet the criteria for transferring credit between the two academic programs. Students may be able to identify projects or educational experiences at Duke University that may satisfy the requirements for independent studies. However, this must be approved by the UNC SILS faculty, following established procedures and will be handled on a case-by-case basis by UNC.

Duke University will grant credit for the MSLS and MSIS degrees towards the third year when the student earns their masters from UNC at the end of the two years, and successfully completes all of Duke's third year requirements including the UNC master's thesis and a separate Duke 3 rd year thesis (often a modification of the final UNC master's thesis).

Tuition and Fees

Duke medical students are responsible for paying for all application and tuition fees to UNC.

UNC SILS provides a robust financial aid program. Students are urged to submit their application by January 1st for fullest consideration for financial aid.

The type of tuition paid (in-state or out-of-state) will depend on the applicants' abilities to meet the criteria for resident status as required by UNC Graduate School.

Application Process

Deadlines – Even though the latest deadline for admittance for the fall semester is June 15, the UNC Graduate School and SILS recommend early completion of applications and admission into the program.

The UNC Graduate School recommends submission of all materials by December 1, due to the volume of applications received. All applications must be submitted by April 15 for the fall semester.

UNC SILS recommends early submission due to the limited number of spaces in the program.

The School also recommends that applications be received by January 1st for fullest consideration for financial aid.

The Duke medical school registrar must be notified that an application to this program has been submitted to UNC.

Early submission of application materials will enhance consideration for the limited number of spaces available in the program.

The UNC application process includes:

• A Graduate School application and nonrefundable application fee of $60.
• A School of Information and Library Science supplemental application -- MSLS, MSIS
• Transcripts of all academic work, sent directly from each institution.
• Scores on the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) taken within the past five years, sent from Educational Testing Service. MCAT scores may be submitted in place of the GRE. [Note: Applicants holding a terminal degree (e.g., J.D., M.D., D.D.S., and Ph.D.) may request a waiver from this requirement.]
• A brief essay expressing why the applicant is interested in information or library science as a career (500 words maximum).
• Three letters of reference. It is highly desirable for at least two to be from persons having first-hand knowledge of applicant's academic capabilities.
• A résumé including work experience, special abilities and skills.

The school reserves the right to request an interview of an applicant by a faculty member or a person designated by the school.

If offered admission, a place will be reserved by the payment of a $100 nonrefundable deposit that is credited toward the first semester's tuition. Admission to this program must be communicated to the Duke Medical School registrar.

Admission to the master's programs is competitive. Meeting all of the stated requirements for admission will not necessarily ensure admittance.

Degree Requirements

The following UNC degree requirements for the Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS) must be fulfilled within five years from the date of enrollment:

• Forty-eight semester hours of graduate-level course work
• Two semesters of residence, as described in the Graduate School Record
• Application for graduation, filed early in the final semester of course work
• Completion of a satisfactory comprehensive examination
• Completion of a master's paper or project

Function	MSLS Required Courses
Organization	INLS 521 Organization of Materials I
Collection/Retrieval	INLS 501 Information Resources and Services and INLS 513 Resource Selection
Information-Related Behavior	INLS 500 Human Information Interactions
Design/Evaluation	INLS 780 Research Methods
Management	INLS 585 Management forInfo. Professionals
Other Requirements	Courses
Master's Paper	INLS 992 Master's Paper
Information Technology	INLS 461 Information Tools

The Master of Science in Information Science (MSIS) is also a 48 credit-hour program and has the following requirements:

Function	MSIS Required Courses
Organization	INLS 520 Organization of Information
Collection/Retrieval	INLS 509 Information Retrieval
Information-Related Behavior	INLS 500 Human Information Interactions
Design/Evaluation	INLS 582 Systems Analysis and INLS 780 Research Methods
Management	INLS 585 Management for Info. Professionals
Other Requirements	Courses
Master's Paper	INLS 992Master's Paper
Information Technology	INLS 461 Information Tools

Other UNC SILS Requirements

As of 2001, MS candidates in SILS are required to possess or have unlimited access to a laptop computer.

Mentors

A Duke faculty mentor, who has been approved to by the Third Year Committee, will be assigned to each student. This mentor will provide general guidance and advice, and ensure that the student is meeting Duke's criteria for completion of the third/scholarly year. Mentors will be sought among faculty who are focused on informatics issues and who can identify relevant research projects. In addition, professional librarians in the Medical Center Library will be assigned work with the faculty mentors and the medical students.

A UNC faculty adviser is assigned to each student to monitor their progress through the curriculum and ensure they are meeting the criteria for graduation.

Thesis Requirements

UNC SILS requires for graduation the completion of a master's paper or project.

The Master's paper has these general characteristics:

1. It is based partly or completely on original data gathered by the student, on existing data gathered by the student, or on existing data pertinent to library and information work. Master's papers may include but are not restricted to experimental studies, historical studies, content analyses, case studies, or surveys.
2. The paper must be logical in its organization and clear in its exposition.
3. The language of the paper must agree with standard scholarly usage.

The Master's project has these general characteristics:

1. It involves the design of a solution to a technical problem in library or information work. Master's projects may include, but are not restricted to, testing and evaluations of existing programs and/or systems design.
2. The project must be thoroughly described in writing. This should include analyses of various approaches to the problem and its proposed solution. In many respects this documentation should resemble a position paper or a consultant's report.
3. Copies of project materials may be submitted in printed or disk format as appendices to the paper.

The Duke University School of Medicine requires the completion of a quantitative thesis by all students enrolled in medical school.

The purpose of the thesis requirement is:

• To allow the student to present the research question(s) s/he set out to answer, the hypotheses s/he attempted to test, and the results of those attempts.
• To teach the student how to write a scientific manuscript.
• To provide the student with a vehicle for formally presenting her/his work, in the context of related work transpiring both inside and/or outside the Mentor's laboratory.
• To afford the student an opportunity to develop a scientific story around the research that s/he has performed.

Students in the MSLS and MSIS programs must meet this requirement in addition to the master's paper or project required by the library school. When feasible, the master's thesis may be used for both programs, but this must be discussed with the Duke mentor to ensure all requirements are met. The final format of the Duke thesis will be in the form of a scientific journal article. Duke 3rd year thesis guidelines can be viewed on the 3rd year Website.

IRB Approval

Students conducting research that requires review by an institutional review board are required to seek approval from and meet all requirements established by both institutional review boards.

Continuity Ambulatory Care Experience (Duke)

Medical students are expected to complete the course INTERDIC-205C Practice Year 3, a continuity ambulatory (outpatient) care experience during the two-years spent pursuing the MSLS or MSIS degree. This course is required of third year students and is designed to teach students patient outcomes over time. The outpatient clinic experience is 34 weeks, one-half day a week. Twenty-two weeks are required in an approved continuity ambulatory site, primary care sites being the most likely to be approved. Specialty care sites (medicine or surgery) may be approved, if at least 50 percent of the patients are seen on a continuing basis with typical follow-up in one to three months. The Practice office requires approval for this. Students may arrange to use 12 of the 34 weeks to pursue non-continuity outpatient clinic experiences (e.g., specialty clinics that do not see patients back before three months, if at all). Notification of the Practice office is required prior to starting, and the mentor must document attendance. A student may choose to do all 34 weeks at the same approved site.

Given the flexibility of the MSLS and MSIS curricula, students should be able to complete this requirement and are strongly urged to do so before entering their fourth year of medical school. However, students who may not be able to take the course due to scheduling conflicts or scholarship requirements in their third year must take it in their fourth year.

Supervised Field Experience

UNC SILS does provide credit for a supervised field experience. This class is intended to provide students with an opportunity to relate coursework, research and independent study to actual professional experience in an information agency. Students must complete the necessary forms and meet all requirements for the program.

Duke University Medical Center Library will offer field experiences to interested medical students.