Research is Possible —and Vital—as a Hospitalist

When you’re in the middle of yet another impossibly busy week, making time for research in hospital medicine might seem next to impossible. But it is possible—and enormously important for the health of the field, a panel of experts said in a session at SHM Converge 2023. Dr. Collins “We think that we can do research as hospitalists, and it’s not a myth and it is within reach for us,” said Will Collins, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif. Sure enough, there are challenges. Hospitalists are often seen as “clinicians first,” he said, the people who get the work done in the hospital, and so they often aren’t allowed to have research as a priority, he said. Also, funding can be difficult, and hospital medicine is caught in a “vicious cycle” of lack of mentorship, he said. Hospitalists don’t have researcher mentors, and because they aren’t doing much research themselves, they don’t expose trainees to research, so the next generation of mentors goes without research exposure and experience as well. As one of the top five physician specialties, hospital medicine is getting bigger, and this is a strength, he said. “With size comes influence,” Dr. Collins said. “If we are big then we can start to state our priorities more clearly.” Neera Ahuja, MD, chief of hospital medicine at Stanford University, in Stanford, Calif., said that hospitalist leaders who are setting out to begin a research program sho...
Source: The Hospitalist - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Career Hospital Medicine SHM Converge Source Type: research