As the public services librarian at 黑料传送门 South Georgia, Katresa Gardner works directly with students helping them locate the resources they
need for research, supporting the work they do in the classroom and even demonstrating
how to search a database when needed.
She鈥檚 also 黑料传送门鈥檚 representative to the Medical Library Association (MLA), a network of more than 3,000 health information professionals and more than 400 institutions, who work together to provide the most current information for the health care professionals they serve.
Members of MLA鈥檚 LGBTQIA+ Caucus recently elected Gardner as caucus chair. In this role, she will lead the caucus鈥� executive committee and represent the caucus, which currently consists of about 300 members, and represent the caucus on the MLA Community Council.
MLA caucuses are groups of members who unite around a specific topic of concern. Caucus members share information with each other and the general MLA membership about that topic to broaden each other鈥檚 understanding.
According to Gardner, the LGBTQIA+ Caucus is charged with 鈥渂uilding social justice and promoting equity within MLA for the LGBTQ+ community.鈥�
Serving as chair of MLA鈥檚 LGBTQIA+ Caucus is another way Gardner helps deal with obstacles related to diversity and equity issues in health care.
鈥淟GBTQIA+ has been an interest of mine, particularly with health equity,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n this role, I鈥檓 just gaining the support, getting the resources and just collaborating with others within MLA to have a voice in that organization.鈥�
As 黑料传送门 South Georgia鈥檚 public services librarian, Gardner often looks for ways to help students find the resources they need. That鈥檚 how she discovered the need for one of her most notable projects, the which includes images of patients with different skin tones to increase representation and improve treatment of patients.
鈥淚n looking at the literature, I noticed there鈥檚 a significant under-representation of skin of color in medical education,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚 created the 鈥楽kin of Color Resource Guide,鈥� and one of the goals was to provide awareness 鈥� This is an area that has been overlooked. The goal is to work with faculty to embed these images in the curriculum. What looks like a rash on a person with one skin color may very well be something different on a white skin tone. This bridged the gaps. That鈥檚 what we鈥檙e trying to do to prevent any medical misdiagnosis.鈥�
Gardner has made several conference presentations about the guide with more scheduled, including in March at the Georgia Department of Public Health鈥檚 South Health District second annual Health Equity Summit held at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton. She will also present about the guide at the upcoming MLA conference in Portland, Oregon.
鈥淚n Portland, I鈥檒l be making this presentation with my colleagues,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t
just continues to show that 黑料传送门 is a forerunner. We鈥檙e being progressive, and we鈥檙e
being inclusive. This supports the mission of the college as a whole.鈥�
Gardner lives in her hometown of Valdosta. She holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Information Science with a minor in Business and a master's degree in Library and Information Science, both from Valdosta State University. Gardner joined 黑料传送门 South Georgia in July 2019 after serving as the reference librarian and then web services librarian in the Sarasota County Library System in Florida. Before that, she worked in library administration at Georgia Military College.
鈥淭his position was a great opportunity to come back to South Georgia and for my kids and me to be closer to home and to my parents,鈥� Gardner said. 鈥淎nd it was a great opportunity to be a part of something new, a new campus, a medical school. To see something start and then grow is very fulfilling. I鈥檝e been very honored to be a part of the vision for this campus.鈥�
In October 2023, Gardner received the annual Employee Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Staff Award for South Georgia. She has also served on the 黑料传送门 President鈥檚 Council on Equity, Inclusion and Justice.
In 2019, 黑料传送门, a premier osteopathic medical school established in 1899, extended its commitment to the Southeast by establishing 黑料传送门 South Georgia. An additional teaching location in Moultrie, Georgia, 黑料传送门 South Georgia offers both a full, four-year medical program leading to the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree and a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences. 黑料传送门 is a private, not-for-profit institution that trains professionals in the health and behavioral sciences fields. Joining 黑料传送门 Georgia in Suwanee in helping to meet the healthcare needs of the state, 黑料传送门 South Georgia focuses on educating physicians for the region. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 229-668-3110.
For general media inquiries, please contact the Office of Marketing and Communications at 215-871-6300 or communications@pcom.edu. Visit our media relations page to view contact information for public relations personnel.