Editor’s note: As SHM celebrates the “Year of the Hospitalist,” we’re putting the spotlight on some of our most active members who are making substantial contributions to hospital medicine. Log on to www.hospitalmedicine.org/yoth for more information on how you can join the yearlong celebration and help SHM improve the care of hospitalized patients.
This month, The Hospitalist spotlights Moises Auron, MD, SFHM, a dual internal medicine/pediatrics hospitalist at the Cleveland Clinic. He is board certified in internal medicine and pediatrics and serves as associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.
Question: What inspired you to begin working in hospital medicine and later join SHM?
Moises Auron, MD, SFHM
Answer: I joined SHM as a third-year med-peds resident, influenced by my mentor and teacher, Dr. James C. Pile. I completed my medicine and perioperative consult rotation with him, and it was the first time in ages that anybody had served as such a motivating role model. He gave me a collection of The Hospitalist newsmagazines focused on perioperative medicine as well as a pack of articles around pertinent subjects for an internal medicine consultation service. It was a breath of fresh air; I found an entirely new niche in medicine. And in addition, he demonstrated to me how being a hospitalist was a fundamental pillar of patient care within the healthcare system. He showed me the elements of a thorough and pertinent system-based practice.
I met SHM CEO Dr. Larry Wellikson and the SHM team during a meeting in Philadelphia about 10 years ago and became even more acquainted with the society and its goals. I became a member on the spot. As a resident, I loved receiving both The Hospitalist and the Journal of Hospital Medicine. Both helped me also in my initial job search during my senior year of residency as well as with familiarizing myself with the latest hospital medicine literature. In short, being a member of SHM helped me cement my professional career path to hospital medicine.
Q: How has SHM provided you with resources to improve patient care and further your career?
A: The Hospitalist and the Journal of Hospital Medicine greatly impacted my knowledge and understanding of hospital medicine’s focus on enhancing patient safety and quality of care. When I went to my first annual meeting, it was an overwhelmingly pleasant experience, featuring excellent and up-to-date conferences, phenomenal research/innovations, and clinical vignette poster sessions with tremendous networking opportunities, etc. The experience fueled even further my passion for medicine.
I had the privilege of attending the Academic Hospitalist Academy and the Quality and Safety Educators Academy as well; both have helped me foster further goals in my career as well as achieve substantial professional and personal satisfaction.
The most important aspect of my membership has been becoming acquainted with a tremendous group of talented human beings, including both the SHM staff as well as hospitalist colleagues. The strength of SHM is its people: passionate providers and administrators who aim to make a better world for patients and doctors.
Q: What is your proudest moment working in hospital medicine?
A: Every single day of my job. As an academic hospitalist and a quality officer at my institution, I take tremendous pride in my job. I define ourselves as the super-internists; we are a quaternary medical center that cares for patients referred from all over the nation, and we need to elucidate obscure diagnoses and aim to offer a treatment and hope.
To me, what is more important is when I witness my residents being actively mindful about preventing harm: when they hardwire best practices such as good hand hygiene, precautions for prevention of falls, risk mitigation associated with any medical intervention … The list goes on. When I appreciate that behavior that becomes my proudest moment because I know that they will ensure the best outcomes for our patients and that I have made an impact.