Pediatric hospitalists' influences on education and career plans

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Pediatric hospitalist (PH) presence is rapidly increasing, yet little is known about pediatric resident exposure to hospitalists, or how this affects resident education/career decisions.OBJECTIVES:To determine resident exposure to pediatric hospitalists; examine resident opinions regarding hospitalists' roles; examine resident opinion of hospital medicine career training needs; explore how resident exposure to hospitalists affects career choices.METHODS:Survey of random sample of 300 residents from the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Residents database.RESULTS:Two‐hundred seventy‐nine pediatric residents surveyed; 120(43%) responded with variance by question; 90% work with hospitalists during residency. Of this national sample, 82% cite hospitalists as enhancing education. A majority (64%) believe pediatric hospitalists are better than primary care physicians at caring for complex inpatients; 28% felt PH provided better care for routine admissions. Over one‐third surveyed are considering a career in Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM); 7% plan to enter the field upon graduation. Residents cited opportunities to participate in education, flexible hours, and better salaries as the top 3 reasons to become a hospitalist. Ten percent felt there was no difference between resident and hospitalist positions; 21% see PHM as a short‐term job without long‐term potential. Of residents entering Primary Care, a majority (59%) stated that the availability of hospitalists would positively influence their choice of a practice position; 7% said they were “less likely to choose to practice Primary Care Pediatrics because of hospitalists.”CONCLUSIONS:PH have a role in physician training. While PHM has become a career consideration for trainees, more work needs to be done to improve the perception of PHM as a viable long‐term career. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2012;. © 2011 Society of Hospital Medicine

Survey of academic pediatric hospitalist programs in the US: Organizational, administrative, and financial factors

“…Our study demonstrates that academic PHM programs are common, which is consistent with previous data . The data support our belief that more institutions are planning on starting PHM programs.…”

“…Pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) is a relatively new field that has been growing rapidly over the past 20 years . The field has been increasingly recognized for its contributions to high‐quality patient care, patient safety, systems improvement, medical education, and research . However, there appears to be significant variation among programs, even in basic factors such as how clinical effort is defined, the extent of in‐house coverage provided, and the scope of clinical services provided, and there exists a paucity of data describing these variations …”

“…Most previously published work did not specifically focus on academic programs, and specifically targeted hospital leadership, practicing hospitalists, residents, and pediatric residency or clerkship directors, rather than hospitalist directors . Furthermore, previous work focused on specific aspects of PHM programs such as education, value, work environment, and clinical practice, rather than a more comprehensive approach.…”

Neurohospitalists: Perceived Need and Training Requirements in Academic Neurology

“…Hospitalists in a variety of specialties are perceived to have a positive impact on areas ranging from quality and cost effectiveness of inpatient care to student education and are in demand because of this. 12,[18][19][20][21][22] In time, academic neurohospitalists may be perceived similarly. A recent study at one academic medical center demonstrated a decreased length of stay and cost associated with a neurohospitalist service as well as improved medical student satisfaction without compromise of resident satisfaction with clinician educators.…”

Long-term Plans for Those Selecting Hospital Medicine as an Initial Career Choice

“…Previous work has not attempted to clearly acknowledge or distinguish this group from others and thus may not show as robustly the impact of "career" hospitalists in either clinical or administrative roles. [16][17][18] An important limitation of this study is that it only measures "intent" and not actual practice. As such, it is possible that some who reported intent to only spend ≤5 years as a hospitalist will fi nd they enjoy the work so much that they remain in the fi eld.…”