Welcome to HM18 and Orlando! This is the annual conference’s first time in Orlando, a city dubbed “the happiest place on earth,” which conjures up magic and curiosity and brings out the kid in everyone. As Walt Disney noted, “Adults are only kids, grown up.” So we hope you have brought your sense of adventure and curiosity, as we have a lot planned for you!
Over the next 3 days, we invite you to network with nearly 5,000 hospitalist colleagues from around the “small world.” Introduce yourself to total strangers and discover you have a lot in common. This conference provides a wonderful opportunity to share best practices and discuss ideas.
Please have fun taking advantage of the wide array of learning opportunities the Annual Conference Committee developed for HM18. We hope the topics will grab your interest and pique your curiosity. We encourage you (and your inner kid) to try on new ideas, attend lectures that catch your eye, and roll up your sleeves to dive into interactive workshops. For extra fun, the committee created catchy Orlando-themed titles for many of the talks. We hope they make you smile!
The Annual Conference Committee members will be wearing large buttons to identify themselves. We welcome any feedback about the meeting. Please take the time to share your thoughts with us, and we are happy to help in any way. The committee members worked hard to create a pre-course day and meeting with something for everyone, knowing there is great diversity under the hospitalist tent. We also strove to make it relevant and timely. The driving force behind the content was “What do practicing hospitalists need and want to know now?”
HM18 contains an abundance of clinical content. Enjoy the 2 days of Clinical Update talks to hear the latest evidence from a diversity of fields. New this year is Updates in Addiction Medicine, given the large opioid crisis that affecting health care. There are 3 days of Rapid Fire talks to answer the clinical questions we all have while caring for patients. The Perioperative/Co-Management track is back with is unique and useful content. We even repeat some of the most popular talks on Tuesday, so you will be able to attend all the “can’t miss” sessions.
New this year is a focus on careers and how to make yours enjoyable and sustainable. Hospital medicine is more than 20 years old, and there are increasing numbers of mid-career hospitalists. The Career Development track offers a series of topics in case you want to spice up your current role, change your schedule, or plan for retirement. Accompanying this are career development workshops that provide practical skills to do just that.
We have also added a new NP/PA track, a palliative care track, and The Great Debate track. Come watch two entertaining speakers have a “smackdown” on a clinical topic. You’ll learn something while laughing.