Healthcare Trailblazers

The Hospitalist. 2009 July;2009(07):

July 1, 2009|The Hospitalist

Younger generations blaze new paths through the American economy. Fifteen years ago, Generation X was fresh out of college and flush with the unimagined potential of the Internet. They helped change the way the world shared information and conducted business. The impact of such innovation and enthusiasm for new technology is still felt today.

The healthcare sector possesses pioneers of its own, many with the same kind of drive and vision as the dot-com entrepreneurs of the 1990s. Fifteen years from now, today’s young hospitalists—shaped by ever-changing demands and healthcare hurdles—will be recognized as an authority in the new ways patient care is delivered.

We’re not just super-residents. We’re highly trained specialists in the care of hospitalized patients and the process of making care in hospital better.

—Brian Markoff, MD, FHM, associate professor of medicine, Mount Sinai Hospitalist Group, New York City

Bijo Chacko, MD, FHM, former chair of SHM’s Young Physicians Committee, sees energy in the newest generation of hospitalists. He also sees great potential from residents who are finishing their training and considering their job options. Until recently, SHM’s Young Physicians Committee operated as a task force. The group’s growth and increased young-physician representation throughout the society prompted SHM leadership to promote the task force to full committee status.

“The wonderful thing is that we have received lots of input from around the country and dramatically increased membership in the past few years,” says Dr. Chacko, hospital medicine medical director for Preferred Health Partners in New York City. “We have moved from simply gathering information about young physicians in hospital medicine to actively disseminating it, including the new Resident’s Corner [department in The Hospitalist]. It addresses the needs of residents and introduces them to the nuances and specifics of hospital medicine.”

Pediatric Hospitalist Conference Expands Program, Attracts a Crowd

Since its inception six years ago, the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Conference has more than doubled in size and scope. Co-sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Ambulatory Pediatric Association (APA), and SHM, this year’s annual meeting—July 23-26 in Tampa, Fla.—will offer fresh content to more than 300 pediatric hospitalists from around the country.

Conference chairman Daniel Rauch, MD, FAAP, FHM, attributes the growth to the conference’s mix of programs and the networking opportunities.

“When I’m at the conference, I’m stopped almost every hour by hospitalists who thank us for putting the conference together,” says Dr. Rauch, director of the pediatric hospitalist program at the New York University School of Medicine. “Many of them are working hard and rarely have the opportunity to network with their peers. When they’re here, they say, ‘Oh, my God, I’m not alone.’ ”

The expanded program includes an oral plenary session, a poster session, and pre-courses on critical care and data analysis. For the first time, content for the plenary and poster sessions will be unique to PHM09; in years past, the sessions presented content from the sponsoring societies’ annual conferences.

“All of the annual conferences have great content,” Dr. Rauch says, “but if you’re a pediatric hospitalist and can only go to one event, this is the one.”—BS

Pediatric Hospital Medicine 2009

WHEN: July 23-26

WHERE: Tampa (Fla.) Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina

For more info: Visit SHM’s online event listings at www.hospitalmedicine.org/events

GET INVOLVED: To join the pediatric hospitalist listserv, e-mail nalexander@aap.org.

The demand for information has spurred the launch of a young physicians section (www.hospitalmedicine.org/youngdoctor) on SHM’s Web site. Combined with SHM’s online career center (www.hospitalmedicine.org/careercenter), the new microsites provide young physicians a broad range of information about the specialty and—most importantly—HM career options.

Natural Progression

Four out of five large hospitals now use hospitalists, and as more hospitals implement HM programs, more residents will be exposed to the hospitalist model of care. For residents, the allure of an HM career is broad and deep. In many ways, HM is the logical extension of residency training. Brian Markoff, MD, FHM, a hospitalist and associate professor of medicine at Mount Sinai Hospitalist Group in New York City, was a chief resident when he founded the hospitalist program at the University of California at Davis Health System in Sacramento in 1998.